Topological insulators from electronic superstructures

The possibility of realizing topological insulators by the spontaneous formation of electronic superstructures is theoretically investigated in a minimal two-orbital model including both the spin-orbit coupling and electron correlations on a triangular lattice. Using the mean-field approximation, we show that the model exhibits several different types of charge-ordered insulators, where the charge disproportionation forms a honeycomb or kagome superstructure. We find that the charge-ordered insulators in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling can be topological insulators showing quantized spin Hall conductivity. Their band gap is dependent on electron correlations as well as the spin-orbit coupling, and even vanishes while showing the massless Dirac dispersion at the transition to a trivial charge-ordered insulator. Our results suggest a new route to realize and control topological states of quantum matter by the interplay between the spin-orbit coupling and electron correlations. (author)