Rare-earth based half-Heusler topological quantum materials: A perspective

Topological insulator (TI) materials which are conductive at the surface but insulating in the bulk have drawn much attention in the past decade due to their fascinating properties and potential application in the field of spintronics, quantum computing, topological superconductivity and next generation electronics. In the search of three-dimensional TIs, half-Heusler compounds are the new entrants. Half-Heusler compounds are equiatomic ternary compounds with cubic symmetry. Due to the availability of a large pool of elements in the half Heusler family, the physical properties of these materials can be tuned by choosing the desired combination of elements. In this perspective, we have briefly discussed the development of structural relations, the quantum hall effect, Landau quantization, and topological properties of a few representative systems in the half-Heusler family, including methods by which they are studied and characterized such as Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy, Shubnikov-de-Hass Oscillations and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.