Electronic Band Structures of the Possible Topological Insulator Pb₂BiBrO₆ and Pb₂SeTeO₆ Double Perovskite: An Ab Initio Study

Abstract

Using the frameworks of density functional theory, we found a new class of three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TIs) in Pb2BiBrO6 and Pb2SeTeO6 double perovskites. Our ab initio theoretical calculations show that Pb2BiBrO6 and Pb2SeTeO6 are Z2 nontrivial, and their bandgaps are 0.390 eV and 0.181 eV, respectively. The topology comes from two mechanisms. Firstly, the band inversion occurs at Γ point in the absence of spin-orbit interactions and secondly, the bandgap is induced by the SOC. This results in a larger bandgap for this new class of topological insulators than conventional TI. In Pb2BiBrO6 double perovskites, our slab calculations confirm that the topology-protected surface metallic bands come from the BiBrO4 surface which means that one can build a transport device using Pb2BiBrO6 double perovskites with a PbO layer as an outmost protection layer. The mechanical stabilities such as bulk, shear, Young’s moduli, Poisson’s and Pugh’s ratio, longitudinal, transverse, and average sound velocity, together with Debye temperature are also studied. Our results show that these Pb2AA’O6 (A = Sb and Bi; A’ = Br and I) and Pb2SeTeO6 are mechanically stable.

Keywords

• Pb₂BiBrO₆
• Pb₂SeTeO₆
• topological insulator
• first-principles calculations