Topological and trivial domain wall states in engineered atomic chains

Abstract

In a recent article, Huda et al. demonstrated tuneable topological domain wall states in the c(2$\times$2) chlorinated Cu(100). Their system allows to experimentally tune the domain wall states using atom manipulation by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). They have realized topological domain wall states of two prototypical 1D models such as trimer and coupled dimer chains. However, they did not distinguish trivial domain wall states from topological ones in their models. As a result, all states of a specific domain wall are not topological but trivial. Here, we show why the specific domain wall states are trivial and how to make them topological. This topological consideration would provide more clear insight on future studies on topological domain wall states in artificial atomic chains.