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Half-Heusler topological insulators

  • Topological Insulators
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Abstract

Ternary semiconducting or metallic half-Heusler compounds with an atomic composition 1:1:1 are widely studied for their flexible electronic properties and functionalities. Recently, a new material property of half-Heusler compounds was predicted based on electronic structure calculations: the topological insulator. In topological insulators, the metallic surface states are protected from impurity backscattering due to spin-momentum locking. This opens up new perspectives in engineering multifunctional materials. In this article, we introduce half-Heusler materials from the crystallographic and electronic structure point of view. We present an effective model Hamiltonian from which the topological state can be derived, notably from a non-trivial inverted band structure. We discuss general implications of the inverted band structure with a focus on the detection of the topological surface states in experiments by reviewing several exemplary materials. Special attention is given to superconducting half-Heusler materials, which have attracted ample attention as a platform for non-centrosymmetric and topological superconductivity.

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Acknowledgments

B.Y. acknowledges support from the Max-Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, helpful discussions with C. Felser, and financial support by an ERC Advanced Grant (291472). The work of A.dV. was carried out in the research program on Topological Insulators of FOM (Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research of Matter).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Germany

    Binghai Yan

  2. Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Anne de Visser

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Correspondence to Binghai Yan.

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Yan, B., de Visser, A. Half-Heusler topological insulators. MRS Bulletin 39, 859–866 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2014.198

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