Topological insulator

This is a very intersting topic, in many ways, at this moment. First, this is a simple quantum phase of matter, recently proposed theoretically and discovered. Second, no real insulator has been really confirmed so far, to be a topological insulator. All so-called toplogical insulator materials are bulk metals, not bulk insulators, as strictly required for topological insulators. Third, the ARPES data have been crucial in ascertaining the topological insulator nature of these materials.

Here in UCSC, we are studying these materials from two different perspectives. First, we are studying the interaction effects in topological insulators. Second, the surface metallic state in topological insulator materials seems a very good reference to use to compare with anomalous line shapes in quasi-two-dimensional and quasi-one-dimenasional cuprates, that the Gweon group study.

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Students

• Ahram Kim (grad student) and Eric Reichwein (undergrad student) are woking on this project.
• A summer intern from high school, Richelle Smith, helped with this project during the summer of 2012.
• Gregory Kaminsky has been helpful in discussions of topological insulator.