Eurekalert June 1, 2018
An international team of researchers (Switzerland, Spain, USA – Princeton University, Germany, France) has predicted a new class of topological insulators, called “higher-order topological insulators”, that have conducting properties on the edges of crystals rather than on their surface. The conducting edges are extraordinarily robust. If an imperfection gets in the way of the current, it simply flows around the impurity, if the crystal breaks, the new edges automatically conduct current and in theory electricity can be conducted without any dissipation. They have proposed tin telluride as the first compound to show these novel properties. The researchers hope that in the future nanowires made of higher-order topological insulators may be used as conducting paths in electric circuits. They could be combined with magnetic and superconducting materials and used for building quantum computers… read more. Open Access  TECHNICAL ARTICLE
This is a schematic of a higher-order topological insulator in the shape of a nanowire, with conducting channels on its edges. CREDIT: UZH