Controllable Quantum Spin Hall Phases in Bi 2 Te 3-Family van der Waals Heterobilayers
Researchers stacked two trivial quintuple layers from Bi2Te3 family materials to create a van der Waals heterostructure. This stacking generated a quantum spin Hall phase, which is tunable using interlayer distance and an external electric field. The study shows that the topological edge states can be switched on or off by applying these external controls, offering a new method for manipulating 2D topological phases.