Abstract
Topological insulators are new class of materials which are characterized by a bulk band gap like ordinary band insulators but have protected conducting states on their edges or surfaces. These states emerge due to the combination of spin-orbit coupling and time reversal symmetry. Also, these states are insensitive to scattering by non-magnetic impurities. A two-dimensional topological insulator has one dimensional edge states in which the spin-momentum locking of the electrons give rise to quantum spin Hall effect. A threedimensional topological insulator supports novel spin-polarized 2D Dirac fermions on its surface. These topological insulator materials have been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed in a variety of 2D and 3D systems, including HgTe quantum wells, BiSb alloys, and Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3 crystals. Moreover, proximity induced superconductivity in these systems can lead to a state that supports zero energy Majorana fermions, and the phase is known as topological superconductors. In this article, the basic idea of topological insulators and topological superconductors are presented along with their experimental development.
Published Version
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