拓扑量子材料的研究进展

拓扑量子材料近年来已经成为凝聚态物理领域研究的国际前沿课题。在过去的几十年中凝聚态物理学者对量子霍尔效应进行了广泛研究,提出了一种基于拓扑序的研究范式,并且将拓扑这一数学概念与能带理论相结合,成功将其引入到固体电子材料的理论、计算与实验研究之中。拓扑材料具有奇特的表面态和低能耗的电子输运等性质,这些效应是由于拓扑量子态受到严格的对称性保护,对于普通的材料杂质、缺陷或无序具有很高的鲁棒性,并可以通过量子调控或相变改变其拓扑性质。这一新兴研究领域为未来的电子材料和器件,乃至基于量子拓扑体系与计算的信息技术创新探索提供了多种可能。对整个材料学的发展而言,拓扑概念的引入使人们对物质的研究更加深入,并且开始使用更加先进的数学工具描述新材料的属性。文章从拓扑绝缘体和拓扑半金属等材料计算科学的角度探讨拓扑量子材料的一些基本概念以及近年来国内外的研究进展。

Research advances of topological quantum materials

Topological quantum materials have recently been a worldwide frontier research topic in condensed matter physics. Overthe past decades, the wide investigation of the quantum Hall effect has led to a new paradigm based on the notion of topological order. Through combining the mathematical concept of topology and the energy band theory, scholars have incorporated them into the theory, calculation, and experiment of solid state electronic materials. Topological materials may have the properties of peculiar surface states and low energy consumption for electron transport. The origin of such effects is that topological quantum states can be protected strictly by symmetry, and they are highly robust to common impurities, defects or disorder, unless the topological property of the system is changed through a quantum control or phase transition. This emerging research field provides numerous possibilities for the future exploration of electronic materials and devices, as well as information technology based on quantum topological systems and computing. For the development of materials science, the introduction of topological concept enables material scientists to study materials with deeper insight and to describe materials using more advanced mathematical tool. This paper will cover the research progress of topological quantum materials from the perspective of computational science, including topological insulators and topological semi-metals.