Strong Electronic Correlation-Driven Topological Superconductivity and Exotic Transport Properties in ZrCl Monolayer

Abstract

Low dimensional topological superconductors with nontrivial topological structures and robust dissipationless edge states are widely regarded as a pivotal physical platform for realizing reliable quantum information processing. Combining first-principles calculations and numerical simulations, we identify the ZrCl monolayer as a topological superconductor, evidenced by a nontrivial Z₂ topological invariant (Z₂ = 1). Our research demonstrates that ZrCl is a strongly coupled topological superconductor with two energy gaps (Δ_α =2.45 meV, Δ_β= 3.1 meV) and a high superconducting transition temperature of 12.3 K. Further analysis within the Bogoliubov-de Gennes theoretical framework reveals that tuning the chemical potential within a specific range (−0.13 < μ < 1.2 meV) can induce spatial symmetry breaking, thereby triggering band inversion and topological phase transitions. Intriguingly, electron-phonon coupling (EPC) in the system further enhances the transport performance of its edge states by generating self-trapped excitons (STEs), where the interaction between STEs and transverse optical phonons renormalizes the edge state energies. These results uncover the profound synergy between topological protection mechanisms and lattice dynamics, enabling the regulation of quantum states with robust edge modes in the ZrCl monolayer. This opens a new path for material design oriented toward fault tolerant qubits and highly sensitive topological devices.