Abstract: The very simple structural motif of a square net has gained interest from both solid-state chemists and condensed-matter physicists for a long time. The fascinating aspect from the chemistry perspective is the nature of chemical bonding in the motif. If composed in main group elements, it can feature a delocalized, ​“hypervalent” bond, which violates conventional electron counting schemes.

In this talk, I will show how this type of bonding can be related to topology. After establishing this relation, it becomes possible to identify, synthesize, and study a variety of new topological semimetals. I will introduce several of these during this talk.

Bio: Leslie M. Schoop is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Princeton University. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton. Her research interests include development of new quantum materials such as topological insulators, 3-D Dirac and Weyl semi-metals, frustrated magnets/spin liquids, and new two-dimensional nano sheets.