GENERAL ARTICLE

Topological Materials∗
New Quantum Phases of Matter

Vishal Bhardwaj and Ratnamala Chatterjee

In this article, we provide an overview of the basic concepts

of novel topological materials. This new class of materials
developed by combining the Weyl/Dirac fermionic electron
states and magnetism, provide a materials-science platform
to test predictions of the laws of topological physics. Owing
to their dissipationless transport, these materials hold high
promises for technological applications in quantum comput- Vishal Bhardwaj is a PhD
ing and spintronics devices. student in Department of
physics IIT Delhi. He works
on thin film growth and
experimental
Introduction characterization of half
Heusler alloys based
In condensed matter physics, phase transitions in materials are topologically non-trivial
generally understood using Landau’s theory of symmetry break- semi-metals.

ing. For example, phase transformation from gas (high symmet- Prof. Ratnamala Chatterjee
ric) to solid (less symmetric) involves breaking of translational is currently a Professor and
Head, Physics Department at
symmetry. Another example is ferromagnetic materials that spon-
I.I.T Delhi. Areas of her
taneously break the spin rotation symmetry during a phase change research interests are: novel
from paramagnetic state to ferromagnetic state below its Curie magnetic & functional
temperature. materials including
topological insulators,
However, with the discovery of quantum Hall effect in 2D sys- Heusler alloys for shape
tems, it was realized that the conducting to insulating phase tran- memory, magnetocaloric &
spintronics applications,
sitions observed in Hall conductivity (σxy ) do not follow the time-
magnetoelectric multiferroic
reversal symmetry breaking condition. Thus it was realized that a materials, shape memory in
new classification of matter based on the topology of materials is ceramics, and microwave
required to understand quantum phase transitions in quantum Hall absorbing materials.

effect. These new quantum phases of matters that are character-

ized using topology are referred to as topological phases of mat-

∗
Vol.25, No.3, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-020-0955-5

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GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 1. Topology of
cuboid and sphere is same
with number of holes g = 0,
whereas topology of toroid
is different with g = 1.

Topology is the branch ter. Topology [1] is the branch of pure mathematics that studies
of pure mathematics that the properties of objects that are invariant under smooth deforma-
studies the properties of
tions. A topological phase is always associated with a topologi-
objects that are invariant
under smooth cal invariant which cannot change as long as there is a continuous
deformations. A change of parameters. For instance, 2D surfaces can be topologi-
topological phase is cally classified by counting their genus g, which counts the num-
always associated with a
ber of holes. The cuboid and sphere shown in Figure 1 belong
topological invariant
which cannot change as to same topological phase with g = 0, both can be transformed
long as there is a into each other without poking a hole. However, the topology of
continuous change of a sphere (g = 0) and toroid (g = 1) is different (see Figure 1).
parameters.
Here g acts as a topological invariant for classifying the topol-
ogy of 2D surfaces. Quantized value of the Hall conductance and
the number of gapless boundary modes obtained in quantum Hall
effect are insensitive to smooth changes in material parameters
and can change only when the system passes through a quantum
phase transition (change in topology). The insulating phase ob-
served in quantum Hall effect is different from the usual band in-
Keywords sulators which can be understood in the realm of Landau’s theory
Topological insulators, topological of symmetry breaking. Thouless, Kohmoto, Nightingale and den
semimetals, quantum phase tran-
Nijs discussed in 1982 this difference between band insulators
sition, Berry’s phase, Weyl nodes.
and these new quantum insulating states in terms of topology [2].
The phase transformation between different quantum Hall states
does not break any symmetry but can be defined using topology
change using an integer called TKNN invariant v. The v provides
robust quantization to Hall conductivity (σ xy ) measured in quan-
tum Hall effect as per relation σxy = v(e2 /h). A point to be noted
here is that the quantum Hall states can be realized only in the
presence of external magnetic fields at very low temperature.
The quest among researchers to obtain these new topologically

432 RESONANCE | March 2020

GENERAL ARTICLE

protected quantum states even in the absence of an external mag-

netic field gave rise to the discovery of topological insulators
[3]. Topological insulators are solid-state materials that are in- Topological insulators
sulators in the bulk but have intrinsic surface states that behave are solid-state materials
like metal, and are completely robust to any type of defects or that are insulators in the
bulk but have intrinsic
disorder. The role of an external magnetic field is played by a surface states that
fictitious magnetic field induced by large spin orbit coupling of behave like metal, and
one of the elements in this material system [4]. The spin orbit in- are completely robust to
any type of defects or
teractions inside a material bring bulk band inversion around the
disorder.
Fermi level and provide non-trivial topology to the bulk bands.
The non-trivial topology of bulk bands results in the evolution of
time-reversal symmetry protected surface states near the system
boundary.
The topological order parameter used to characterize the topo- The topological order
logical phases of matter is Berry’s phase. The idea of Berry’s parameter used to
phase was first introduced in the context of adiabatic approxi- characterize the
topological phases of
mation, where the system is subjected to a very slowly varying matter is Berry’s phase.
perturbation in time. Berry’s phase is defined mathematically as The idea of Berry’s
the line integral of Berry curvature of valence band Bloch wave phase was first
functions integrated over the first Brillouin zone. The TKNN in- introduced in the context
of adiabatic
variant or the first Chern number used to define the quantum Hall approximation, where
states is also related to Berry’s phase and is equal to the Berry the system is subjected
phase divided by 2π. The significance of Berry’s phase for classi- to a very slowly varying
fication of the topological insulators and topological semimetals perturbation in time.
is discussed in the next sections of this article. Let’s first discuss
topological insulators.

Topological Insulators

Topological insulators are a new quantum phase of matter with

insulating bulk and conducting surface/edge states in three/two
dimensions (see Figures 2(a–b)). These surface states are very
different from an ordinary metallic state where up and down spins
are distributed everywhere on a Fermi surface. The surface states
in a topological insulator have spin degeneracy, and there are sep-
arate channels for up and down spins with their momenta locked

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GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 2. (a–b) Schematic

real space diagram of 2D
and 3D topological insu-
lators with spin-polarized
edge and surface states at
the system boundary. (c–
d) Energy band diagram of
2D and 3D topological in-
sulator in momentum space,
showing the formation of 1D
and 2D Dirac cone, respec-
tively. BCB: bulk conduc-
tion band and BVB: bulk va-
lence band.

to spins perpendicularly to preserve time-reversal symmetry (see

Figures 2(a–b)). The surface/edge states are robust against the
non-magnetic impurities due to the topological protection, which
results in dissipationless and back scattering prohibited high mo-
Evolution of metallic bility carrier transport. Evolution of metallic surface or edge
surface or edge states at states at the system boundary of topological insulators can be
the system boundary of
explained using bulk boundary correspondence process. When
topological insulators
can be explained using the gapped energy states of bulk having non-trivial topology are
bulk boundary terminated with a trivial insulator (e.g vacuum), the topological
correspondence process. invariant changes at the interface. In this process of topology
change from non-trivial to trivial, the energy gap closes at the in-
terface, and the metallic surface states appear. Hence, in 3D/2D
topological insulators, the gapless (metallic) surface/edge states
are always present.
It was realized that the non-trivial topology of electronic states
for topological insulators can be fully characterized using one Z2
invariant in 2D systems and four Z2 invariants in 3D systems [5].

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The Z2 invariant gives topological classification based on parity

which can be understood easily using Kramer’s theorem for spin
1/2 electrons. For time-reversal symmetry protected systems, the For time-reversal
energy at +k and −k are the same, i.e the energy bands come in symmetry protected
pairs which are called Kramer’s pairs. These pairs are degener- systems, the energy at
+k and −k are the same,
ate at certain points in the Brillouin zone that are referred to as i.e the energy bands
time-reversal invariant momentum points or Kramer’s degener- come in pairs which are
ate points, due to the periodicity of Brillouin zones. By count- called Kramer’s pairs.
ing how often the surface states cross the Fermi energy between
two boundary Kramer’s degenerate points, one may distinguish
topological non-trivial (odd number of crossings; Z2 = 1) and
trivial (even number of crossings; Z2 = 0) system. In the non-
trivial case, edge or surface states cross each other odd number
of times and this point of crossing is called the Dirac point (see
Figure 2(c–d)). The spin degeneracy is lifted around this point
which results in the formation of 1D and 2D Dirac cone due to
the edge and surface states in 2D and 3D topological insulators
respectively (see Figure 2(c–d)). As the electron traverse a cir-
cular path around the Dirac point it acquires a non-trivial Berry’s
phase = π. Hence, the experimental realization of Berry’s phase
= π indicates the presence of Dirac cone, and Dirac fermions in
topological materials.

Topological Semimetals

Semimetals have band structure in which the conduction and va- Semimetals have band
lence band touch each other at a point but the carrier concentra- structure in which the
conduction and valence
tion is very less (1017 –1022 cm−3 ) in comparison to metals (1022 –
band touch each other at
1025 cm−3 ). Some of these semimetals have a narrow band gap a point but the carrier
between the highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied band concentration is very less
along with band touching points (nodes) at the Fermi energy [6] in comparison to metals.
in the first Brillouin zone. There can also be line nodes, where
the bands are degenerate along closed lines in momentum space
in the semimetals. Now if these points or line nodes also have
topological protection due to non-trivial bulk band structure, then
the semimetals are classified as topological semimetals. Topo-
logical semimetals are the quantum phases of matter that host

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GENERAL ARTICLE

Dirac and Weyl fermions. These are further classified into Weyl
semimetals, Dirac semimetals, triple point semimetals and nodal
line semimetals [6]. The Weyl semimetals are currently the most
studied topological semimetals with Weyl fermions as the charge
carriers. The non-centrosymmetric semimetals like TaAs (inver-
sion symmetry-breaking) or magnetic semimetals like Heusler al-
loys (time-reversal symmetry breaking) are the potential candi-
dates for the quest of the Weyl semimetals. These semimetals
have two singly degenerate bulk band crossings called as Weyl
nodes at particular values of crystal momentum in the first Bril-
louin zone. These band crossings disperse linearly in all direc-
tions of momentum space away from the Weyl nodes. Weyl nodes
act as monopole (source) and anti-monopole (sink) of the Berry
curvature field in the momentum space (see Figure 3). They are
always separated in momentum space and appear in pairs of pos-
itive and negative chirality. Similar to topological insulators, the
boundary of Weyl semimetals have gapless surface states, which
are topologically protected by chiral charge associated with the
The chiral charge Weyl nodes present in bulk bands. This is also an example of the
associated with a Weyl bulk-boundary correspondence in this topological phase. These
node is the topological
surface states are called Fermi arcs in Weyl semimetals which
invariant used to define
the topology of Weyl connect the pairs of bulk Weyl nodes with opposite chiralities,
semimetals. Weyl and provide a surface fingerprint of the topological nature of the
semimetals do not have a bulk band structure (see Figure 3).
global band gap due to
the existence of two The chiral charge associated with a Weyl node is the topological
Weyl nodes; therefore, invariant used to define the topology of Weyl semimetals. Weyl
the topological invariant
semimetals do not have a global band gap due to the existence
can’t be defined for the
entire 3D bulk Brillouin of two Weyl nodes; therefore, the topological invariant can’t be
zone. defined for the entire 3D bulk Brillouin zone. Hence, it is defined
on a 2D closed surface that encloses one Weyl node in momen-
tum space where the band structure is fully gapped. The chi-
ral charge is calculated mathematically by the surface integral of
the Berry curvature associated with the Weyl node. A conserved
chiral current of fermions with positive and negative chirality al-
ways transfers between a Weyl node pair. In an external magnetic
field applied parallel to the external electric field, population im-

436 RESONANCE | March 2020

GENERAL ARTICLE

Figure 3. Schematic dia-

gram of a Weyl semimetal
which have two Weyl nodes
in bulk bands.

balance of chiral fermions is created, which generates a chiral

chemical potential. This effect is called the chiral anomaly or the
chiral magnetic effect, and it affects the transport and thermoelec-
tric response in Weyl semimetals [5]. Therefore, experimentally,
chiral anomaly can be realized as negative longitudinal magneto-
resistance and large thermopower. However, in order to have a
significant effect on observable properties, the Weyl nodes must
occur at or very close to the Fermi energy.

Experimental Characterization

The most direct evidences of topological phases are obtained The most direct
through angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) ex- evidences of topological
phases are obtained
periment that use soft X-rays to study the band structure of the
through angle-resolved
surfaces of solids. This technique is mainly suited for probing photoemission
surface states as the photons knock out valence electrons present spectroscopy (ARPES)
within 1 nm of sample surface [8]. The presence of Dirac cone experiment that use soft
X-rays to study the band
with topologically protected surface states in topological insula-
structure of the surfaces
tors can be verified directly using ARPES. The non-trivial topol- of solids.
ogy of the surface states can also be verified by counting the sur-
face state crossings of the Fermi energy using Kramer’s theorem

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GENERAL ARTICLE

as discussed above. Direct observation of the non-degeneracy of

Dirac cone and helical spin-polarization of the surface states can
be done using spin-resolved ARPES. In case of Weyl semimetals,
the soft X-ray ARPES (reasonably bulk sensitive) and vacuum
ultraviolet ARPES can be used to probe Weyl nodes in the bulk
and Fermi arcs on the surfaces, respectively [9]. The ultraviolet
ARPES is an extremely surface sensitive technique which uses
low photons energy to knock out valence electrons.
Samples for ARPES experiments require clean and flat surfaces
which are usually obtained by cleaving single crystals. So in
cases when the materials do not cleave well or single crystals are
not available, the magneto-transport experiments provide an indi-
rect method to characterize the non-trivial nature of surface states
in topological insulators and Weyl semimetals. The Berry’s phase
= π is associated with massless Dirac fermions of surface states
in topological insulators which provide them non-trivial nature.
Now experimental verification of π Berry’s phase can be done
by measuring the magneto-resistance in a perpendicular magnetic
field (see Figure 4(a)), where two important signatures can be
looked into. First is the observation of weak antilocalization ef-
fect around low magnetic field due to π Berry’s phase associ-
ated with the charge carriers (see Figures 4(a–b)). Second is the
presence of Shubinkov-de Hass (SdH) oscillations at high mag-
netic fields due to Landau level quantization (see Figures 4(a–c)).
The phase factor of these oscillations directly reflects the Berry’s
phase of non-trivial surface states. In weak-antilocalization ef-
fect, the magneto-conductance data shows peak around zero field
due to quantum interference of coherent transport wave func-
tions of carriers, as shown in Figure 4(b). The magnetic-field
dependence of the experimental data can be described by Hikami-
Larkin-Nagaoka theory (see black line fit in Figure 4(b). The pa-
rameters (α and lφ ) obtained after fitting give information about
dimensionality (2D or 3D) of the topological insulator along with
non-trivial nature of surface states [10]. In presence of large mag-
netic field (H) the motion of charge carriers gets quantized which
result in Landau level quantization. Hence quantum oscillations

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Figure 4. (a) Magneto-

resistance data of DyPdBi
thin films measured at 2
K shows the observation
of SdH oscillations at high
magnetic fields and weak-
antilocalization effect at low
magnetic fields. (b) WAL
effect observed in magen-
toconductance data. Ex-
perimental data is fitted to
HLN model. (c) SdH os-
cillations as a periodic func-
tion of 1/H at different tem-
peratures for DyPdBi thin
films. (d) Landau-level fan
called as SdH oscillations are observed which are periodic as a diagram analysis of SdH os-
function of 1/H (see Figure 4(c)). The Berry’s phase can be es- cillations measured at 2 K to
timated by fitting the experimental data to standard Lifshitz Ko- estimate Berry’s phase, inset
sevich equation or using Landau’s fan diagram analysis [10], see shows frequency of oscil-
Figure 4(d). However, since magneto-transport probes the inte- lations estimated using fast
rior of the sample, one should verify the non-trivial nature of the Fourier transformation. Fig-
surface states through both the above methods. ures are adapted from [10].

The topological semimetals have chiral anomaly associated with

the Weyl nodes which provide the experimental signature in
magneto-transport experiments. These signatures [11] are (i) large
negative longitudinal magneto-resistance [12], (ii) anisotropic
magneto-resistance narrowing, and (iii) planar Hall effect. Since
Weyl nodes act as the source and sink of Berry flux, this will
give rise to intrinsic Hall component in magnetic Weyl semimetal.
Hence, observation of anomalous Hall effect serves as the exper-
imental tool in studying the topology of Weyl nodes in magnetic
Weyl semimetals [11]. SdH oscillations in magneto-resistance
and thermopower provide a method to estimate mobility, the ef-
fective mass of the carriers, and Berry’s phase associated with
them.

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GENERAL ARTICLE

Looking Forward

In the last decade, we have discovered many topological phases

in condensed matter physics but this could be just the tip of the
iceberg. The discovery of new topological phases requires band
structure calculation using density functional theory, and we be-
lieve that in future many new topological phases/materials would
be discovered. From the application point of view, topological
insulators and topological semimetals hold promise for dissipa-
tionless transport through spin-polarized channels. These materi-
als have great potential in future spintronics devices and quan-
tum computing applications. Since most of these topological
phases exist at low temperatures, the aim is to push their oper-
ation towards room temperature. This would require a collective
effort in the fields of experimental, theoretical and computation
research. Discovery and experimental realization of new topolog-
ical phases/materials for spintronics devices will move us towards
achieving this goal.

Suggested Reading
[1] Mikio Nakahara, Geometry, Topology and Physics, CRC Press, 2003.
[2] David J. Thouless, Mahito Kohmoto, M. Peter Nightingale and Md den Nijs,
Quantized Hall conductance in a two-dimensional periodic potential, Physical
Review Letters, Vol.49, 405, 1982.
[3] M. Z. Hasan and C. L. Kane, Colloquium: Topological insulators, Rev. Mod.
Phys., Vol.82, pp.3045–3067, 2010.
[4] F.D. M Haldane, Model for a quantum Hall effect without Landau levels:
Condensed-matter realization of the parity anomaly, Physical Review Letters,
Vol.61, pp.2015–2018, 1988.
[5] J. E. Moore, The birth of topological insulators, Nature, Vol.464, pp.194–198,
2010.
[6] A. Burkov, Topological semimetals, Nat. Mater., Vol.15, pp.1145–1148, 2016.
[7] J. Hu, S -Y Xu, N. Ni, and Z. Mao, Transport of topological semimetals, Annu.
Rev. Mater. Res., Vol.49, pp.207–252, 2019.
[8] Y. Ando, Topological insulator materials, J. Phys. Soc., Japan 82, pp.1–32,
2013.
[9] Su-Yang Xu, Ilya Belopolski, Nasser Alidoust, Madhab Neupane, Guang
Bian, Chenglong Zhang, Raman Sankar et al., Discovery of a Weyl fermion
semimetal and topological Fermi arcs, Science, Vol.349, pp.613–617, 2015.
[10] V. Bhardwaj et al., Weak antilocalization and quantum oscillations of surface
states in topologically non-trivial DyPdBi(110)Half Heusler alloy, Sci. Rep.,

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Vol.8, 2018.
[11] Jin Hu, Su-Yang Xu, Ni Ni and Zhiqiang Mao, Transport of topological Address for Correspondence
semimetals, Annual Review of Materials Research, Vol.49, pp.207–252, 2019. Vishal Bhardwaj and
[12] M. Hirschberger et al., The chiral anomaly and thermopower of Weyl fermions Ratnamala Chatterjee
in the half-Heusler GdPtBi, Nat. Mater., Vol.15, pp.1161–1165, 2016. Department of Physics
IIT Delhi
Hauz Khas 110 016, India.
Email:
[email protected]

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