Glass Materials Could Be Topological Insulators

Topological insulators are insulating in their interior but conduct electricity on their surface. These unique surface states, which are robust against defects and other imperfections, make these materials potentially useful in quantum computing and other applications. All known topological insulators are crystals, but new theoretical work demonstrates that amorphous materials, such as glasses, could be topological insulators. This result could significantly broaden the search for new topological materials.