Transition-metal phthalocyanine monolayers as new Chern insulators

Nanoscale. 2020 Feb 14;12(6):3888-3893. doi: 10.1039/c9nr09817h. Epub 2020 Jan 30.

Abstract

To explore new materials for the realization of the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), we studied the electronic, magnetic and topological properties of transition-metal phthalocyanine (TMPc) monolayers in a square lattice. Many of them have large topologically nontrivial band gaps and integer Chern numbers. In particular, the Fermi level of MoPc lies right in the band gap (Eg = 8.1 meV) and has large magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE = 2.0 meV per Mo atom) and a Curie temperature of 16 K, showing its usefulness for applications. The presence of the topologically protected edge state in a MoPc nanoribbon further confirms it as a new two-dimensional topological insulator. This much widens the search for QAHE materials for the design of quantum devices.