%0 Journal Article
%T Weak Topological Insulators in PbTe/SnTe Superlattices
%A Gang Yang
%A Junwei Liu
%A Liang Fu
%A Wenhui Duan
%A Chaoxing Liu
%J Physics
%D 2013
%I arXiv
%R 10.1103/PhysRevB.89.085312
%X It is desirable to realize topological phases in artificial structures by engineering electronic band structures. In this paper, we investigate $(PbTe)_m(SnTe)_{2n-m}$ superlattices along [001] direction and find a robust weak topological insulator phase for a large variety of layer numbers m and 2n-m. We confirm this topologically non-trivial phase by calculating Z2 topological invariants and topological surface states based on the first-principles calculations. We show that the folding of Brillouin zone due to the superlattice structure plays an essential role in inducing topologically non-trivial phases in this system. This mechanism can be generalized to other systems in which band inversion occurs at multiple momenta, and gives us a brand-new way to engineer topological materials in artificial structures.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1309.7932v3