Engineering Two-Dimensional Hybrid-Order Topological Insulators via Trilayer Coupling

Abstract

We propose an interlayer-engineering scheme to realize a two-dimensional hybrid-order topological insulator, characterized by the coexistence of first-order and second-order topological phases, in a coupled trilayer Chern system. Starting from three quantum anomalous Hall layers with Chern numbers $\mathcal{C}_{1/2/3}=+1/-1/+1$ in the decoupled limit, interlayer tunneling hybridizes their edge states into a single chiral edge mode, while simultaneously opening a gap that supports corner states. Consequently, the system exhibits the coexistence of one-dimensional chiral edge states and zero-dimensional corner states within the same bulk gap, a hallmark of the hybrid-order topology. Furthermore, we map out the topological phase diagram, and show that the hybrid-order phase is robust against mass-type disorder. Our results identify interlayer hybridization as a minimal and broadly applicable strategy for engineering coexisting edge and corner states within a topological platform.