Glide symmetry protected higher-order topological insulators from semimetals with butterfly-like nodal lines

Abstract

Abstract Most topological insulators (TIs) discovered today in spinful systems can be transformed from topological semimetals (TSMs) with vanishing bulk gap via introducing the spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which manifests the intrinsic links between the gapped topological insulator phases and the gapless TSMs. Recently, we have discovered a family of TSMs in time-reversal invariant spinless systems, which host butterfly-like nodal-lines (NLs) consisting of a pair of identical concentric intersecting coplanar ellipses (CICE). In this Communication, we unveil the intrinsic link between this exotic class of nodal-line semimetals (NLSMs) and a $${{\mathbb{Z}}}_{4}$$ Z 4 = 2 topological crystalline insulator (TCI), by including substantial SOC. We demonstrate that in three space groups (i.e., P b a m (No.55), P4/m b m (No.127), and P42/m b c (No.135)), the TCI supports a fourfold Dirac fermion on the (001) surface protected by two glide symmetries, which originates from the intertwined drumhead surface states of the CICE NLs. The higher order topology is further demonstrated by the emergence of one-dimensional helical hinge states, indicating the discovery of a higher order topological insulator protected by a glide symmetry.