Introduction to Dirac materials and topological insulators

Abstract

We present a short pedagogical introduction to the physics of Dirac materials, restricted to graphene and two-dimensional topological insulators. We start with a brief reminder of the Dirac and Weyl equations in the particle physics context. Turning to condensed matter systems, semimetallic graphene and various Dirac insulators are introduced, including the Haldane and the Kane-Mele topological insulators. We also discuss briefly experimental realizations in materials with strong spin-orbit coupling. (C) 2013 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.