Reis, F.; Li, G.; Dudy, L.; Bauernfeind, M.; Glass, S.; Hanke, W.; Thomale, R.; Schäfer, J.; Claessen, R. Bismuthene on a SiC substrate: a candidate for a high-temperature quantum spin Hall material. (English) Zbl 1404.81335 Science 357, No. 6348, 287-290 (2017). Summary: Quantum spin Hall materials hold the promise of revolutionary devices with dissipationless spin currents but have required cryogenic temperatures owing to small energy gaps. Here we show theoretically that a room-temperature regime with a large energy gap may be achievable within a paradigm that exploits the atomic spin-orbit coupling. The concept is based on a substrate-supported monolayer of a high-atomic number element and is experimentally realized as a bismuth honeycomb lattice on top of the insulating silicon carbide substrate SiC(0001). Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we detect a gap of \({\sim}0.8\) electron volt and conductive edge states consistent with theory. Our combined theoretical and experimental results demonstrate a concept for a quantum spin Hall wide-gap scenario, where the chemical potential resides in the global system gap, ensuring robust edge conductance. MSC: 81V70 Many-body theory; quantum Hall effect PDFBibTeX XMLCite \textit{F. Reis} et al., Science 357, No. 6348, 287--290 (2017; Zbl 1404.81335) Full Text: DOI arXiv