Physical Properties of Topological PuB4 and PuB6 Compounds

The prediction and subsequent discovery of topological insulators with conducting surface states has attracted widespread attention [1,2]. While much of the research has focused on topological states without electronic correlations (e.g. Bi₂Se₃), the discovery of a conducting surface state in the Kondo insulator SmB6 has opened up the possibility of finding new examples of correlated topological insulators [3,4]. Actinide compounds, with their larger overlap of the f-electron orbitals with neighboring ligand orbitals, often have larger characteristic energy scales and provide fertile ground for searching for new and interesting topological materials. Indeed, Dynamical Mean Field Theory predicts that PuB₆ should be a topological insulator with similar properties to those of SmB₆ [5]. Here, we report the physical properties of PuB₄ and PuB₆ topological materials.
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