Electrically Tunable Conductance and Edge Modes in Topological Crystalline Insulator Thin Films: Tight-Binding Model Analysis

Abstract

We propose a minimal tight-binding model for thin films made of topological crystalline insulator (TCI) on the basis of the mirror and discrete rotational symmetries. The basic term consists of the spin-orbit interaction describing a Weyl semimetal, where gapless Dirac cones emerge at all the high symmetry points in the momentum space. We then introduce the mass term providing gaps to Dirac cones at our disposal. They simulate the thin films made of the [001], [111] and [110] TCI surfaces. TCI thin films are topological insulators protected by the mirror symmetry. We analyze the mirror-Chern number, the edge modes and the conductance by breaking the mirror symmetry with the use of electric field. We propose a multi-digit topological field-effect transistor by applying electric field independently to the right and left edges of a nanoribbon. Our results will open a new way to topological electronics.