THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF TOPOLOGICAL STATES IN MAGNETIC MATERIALS

Theoretical investigation of topological states in magnetic materials Dr. Chao-Xing Liu Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University (Principal Investigator) In recent years, researchers have discovered a large number of so-called topological insulators, which differ from ordinary insulators in the existence of edge/surface conduction. The conducting edge/surface states are insusceptible to backscattering, making them potentially amenable to applications. This proposal is devoted to the study of 'magnetic topological phases', namely topological phases in magnetic materials, which include the quantum anomalous Hall state, Weyl semimetals and topological magnetic crystalline insulators. These topological phases have the advantage that they are more robust to the perturbation that breaks time reversal symmetry. Our main objectives include identifying new magnetic topological phases, searching for new topological materials in magnetic systems and explore novel topological phenomena induced by the interplay between magnetic environment and topologically non-trivial band structures in magnetic materials. To achieve these goals, we will combine analytical methods, such as low energy effective theories and tight-bind models, with numerical calculations, such as the first-principles calculations and numerical simulation of disordered systems. This study may pave the way of the development of a new generation of spintronic devices with low power consumption.