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Topic · Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Topological Materials and Phenomena

Topological Materials and Phenomena is a research topic within Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. Science Explorer counts 25k research works in it since 1954. 9.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the properties and applications of topological insulators and superconductors, including phenomena such as quantum spin Hall effect, Majorana fermions, Dirac and Weyl semimetals, photonic topological insulators, and quantum anomalous Hall effect. It also delves into the potential for topological quantum computation.

  • Topological Insulators
  • Superconductors
  • Quantum Spin Hall Effect
  • Majorana Fermions
  • Dirac Semimetals
  • Weyl Semimetals
  • Photonic Topological Insulators
  • Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect
  • Chiral Anomaly
  • Topological Quantum Computation
Research works
25k
fractional, since 1954
In the world top 10%
2.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+10%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
44% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Topological Materials and Phenomena

Which countries lead Topological Materials and Phenomena research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (3k and 1.3k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3k works
  2. 2 United States 1.3k works
  3. 3 Japan 573 works
  4. 4 India 478 works
  5. 5 Germany 469 works
  6. 6 Russia 239 works
  7. 7 France 218 works
  8. 8 South Korea 197 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 167 works
  10. 10 Spain 162 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 44.3%United States: 18.8%Japan: 8.4%India: 7.0%6 others listed: 21.4%44%largest
China3,012 · 44.3%United States1,281 · 18.8%Japan573 · 8.4%India478 · 7.0%6 others listed1,453 · 21.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Topological Materials and Phenomena research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Topological Materials and Phenomena research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 370 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 120 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 104 works
  4. 4 The University of TokyoJapan 89 works
  5. 5 Max Planck SocietyGermany 78 works
  6. 6 Peking UniversityChina 78 works
  7. 7 Nanjing UniversityChina 76 works
  8. 8 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 68 works
  9. 9 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 67 works
  10. 10 National Institute for Materials ScienceJapan 63 works

Who are the leading researchers in Topological Materials and Phenomena?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Topological Materials and Phenomena include Zhong Lin Wang, Kostya S. Novoselov and Andre K. Geim.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Kostya S. Novoselov United Kingdom 331k citations
  3. 3 Andre K. Geim United Kingdom 315k citations
  4. 4 Kieron Burke United States 276k citations
  5. 5 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  6. 6 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations
  7. 7 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k citations
  8. 8 Rodney S. Ruoff United States 231k citations
  9. 9 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 227k citations
  10. 10 Kai You Wang China 224k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Topological Materials and Phenomena?

The most cited paper in Topological Materials and Phenomena is "Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in graphene" (Kostya S. Novoselov, Andre K. Geim, С. В. Морозов et al., 2005), with 21,624 citations. Next come "Colloquium : Topological insulators" (20,174) and "Topological insulators and superconductors" (14,641).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in graphene Kostya S. Novoselov, Andre K. Geim, С. В. Морозов et al. · Nature Open access Nov 2005 21,624
2 Colloquium : Topological insulators M. Zahid Hasan, C. L. Kane · Reviews of Modern Physics Open access 8 Nov 2010 20,174
3 Topological insulators and superconductors Xiao-Liang Qi, Shou-Cheng Zhang · Reviews of Modern Physics Open access 14 Oct 2011 14,641
4 Experimental observation of the quantum Hall effect and Berry's phase in graphene Yuanbo Zhang, Yan‐Wen Tan, Horst L. Stormer et al. · Nature Open access Nov 2005 13,520
5 Quantum Spin Hall Effect in Graphene C. L. Kane, E. J. Melé · Physical Review Letters Open access 23 Nov 2005 8,253
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Topological Materials and Phenomena research done?

The largest centres of Topological Materials and Phenomena research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Shanghai (China) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Wako, San Sebastian and Rehovot.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 660 works
  2. 2 NanjingChina 223 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 215 works
  4. 4 TokyoJapan 176 works
  5. 5 HefeiChina 173 works
  6. 6 GuangzhouChina 137 works
  7. 7 WuhanChina 134 works
  8. 8 ShenzhenChina 103 works
  9. 9 SingaporeSingapore 98 works
  10. 10 ChangshaChina 98 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. WakoJP · 40.6 works46×
  2. San SebastianES · 29.2 works26×
  3. RehovotIL · 29.8 works23×
  4. JülichDE · 31.9 works15×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Topological Materials and Phenomena than the world average.

See Topological Materials and Phenomena on the map

Where is the best place to study Topological Materials and Phenomena?

Among universities, judged by research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Nanyang Technological University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 20.35%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Massachusetts Instit…Hong Kong University…Nanyang Technologica…University of Hong K…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 76.527.6%8.8×45 -16.4%
2Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyChina 75.121.3%10.2×31 +41.6%
3Nanyang Technological UniversitySingapore 73.618.9%6.0×35 +30.1%
4University of Hong KongChina 69.917.6%5.2×36 +49.5%
5Wuhan UniversityChina 68.824.0%2.9×30 +53.4%
6Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 68.416.5%6.7×58 +107.8%
7National University of SingaporeSingapore 68.420.1%4.2×37 +10.6%
8Princeton UniversityUnited States 66.219.3%11.6×38 -16.4%
9Stanford UniversityUnited States 65.623.0%3.0×33 -17.8%
10Tsinghua UniversityChina 65.015.2%3.5×60 +14.9%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Topological Materials and Phenomena, country by country

Is Topological Materials and Phenomena research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Topological Materials and Phenomena.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Topological Materials and Phenomena as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.031% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Topological Materials and Phenomena0.034% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Topological Materials and Phenomena over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Topological Materials and Phenomena9.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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