Electronic structure and hinge states of strained half-Heusler compounds LiSbZn and LiBiZn

Abstract

Half-Heusler compounds are a class of materials with great potential for the study of distinct electronic states. In this work, we investigate, from first-principles, the possibility of hinge modes in closely related topological phases that are tunable by moderate uni-axial strain. We consider two compounds: LiSbZn and LiBiZn. While LiSbZn has a topologically trivial band structure, the larger spin-orbit coupling of Bi causes a band inversion in LiBiZn. We predict the existence of topologically trivial hinge states in both cases. The hinge modes are affected by both the crystal termination, and the bulk topological phase transitions, albeit indirectly: When present, topological surface modes hybridize with the hinge states and obscure their visibility. Thus, we find that the most visible hinge modes occur when no band inversions are present in the material. Our work highlights the interplay and competition between surface and hinge modes in half-Heuslers, and may help guide the experimental search for robust boundary signatures in these materials.

12 pages, 8 figures, published version

References in corpus (22)

• Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Topological Insulators with Inversion Symmetry
• Electric Multipole Moments, Topological Multipole Moment Pumping, and Chiral Hinge States in Crystalline Insulators
• $(d-2)$-dimensional edge states of rotation symmetry protected topological states
• Reflection symmetric second-order topological insulators and superconductors
• Higher-order topological insulators and semimetals on the breathing Kagome and pyrochlore lattices
• Half-Heusler Compounds as a New Class of Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators
• SU(2) Non-Abelian Holonomy and Dissipationless Spin Current in Semiconductors
• Helical edge and surface states in HgTe quantum wells and bulk insulators
• Higher-Order Weyl Semimetals
• Higher-order Weyl Semimetals
• Superconductivity in three-dimensional spin-orbit coupled semimetals
• Classification of Dirac points with higher-order Fermi arcs
• Noncentrosymmetric topological Dirac semimetals in three dimensions
• Higher-order Weyl superconductors with anisotropic Weyl-point connectivity
• Tuning the topological character of half-Heusler systems: A comparative study on Y$T$Bi ($T$ = Pd, Pt)
• Higher-order topological semimetals and nodal superconductors with an order-two crystalline symmetry
• Network model for higher-order topological phases
• Revisiting the physical origin and nature of surface states in inverted-band semiconductors
• Hybrid symmetry class topological insulators
• Reentrant topological phase in half-Heusler compounds