Topologically protected interface phonons in two-dimensional nanomaterials: hexagonal boron nitride and silicon carbide

Abstract

We perform both lattice dynamics analysis and molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate the existence of topologically protected phonon modes in a two-dimensional, monolayer hexagonal boron nitride sheet. The topological phonon modes are found to be localized at an in-plane interface that divides the system into two regions of distinct valley Chern numbers. The dispersion of this topological phonon mode crosses over the frequency gap [1123, 1278] cm^{-1}, which is opened through analogy with the quantum valley Hall effect by breaking inversion symmetry of the boron and nitride atoms in the primitive unit cell. Consequently, vibrational energy with frequency within this gap is topologically protected, resulting in wave propagation that exhibits minimal backscattering, is robust with regards to structural defects such as sharp corners, and exhibits excellent temporal stability. Our findings open up the possibility of realizing topological phonons and mechanics in two-dimensional nanomaterials.