Imaging quantum spin Hall edges in monolayer WTe 2

Shi, Yanmeng; Kahn, Joshua; Niu, Ben; Fei, Zaiyao; Sun, Bosong; Cai, Xinghan; Francisco, Brian A.; Wu, Di; Shen, Zhi-Xun; Xu, Xiaodong; Cobden, David H.; Cui, Yong-Tao

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat8799

Imaging quantum spin Hall edges in monolayer WTe ₂

Journal Article · Thu Feb 07 23:00:00 EST 2019 · Science Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat8799· OSTI ID:1610664

^[1]; ^[2]; Niu, Ben ^[3]; Fei, Zaiyao ^[2]; Sun, Bosong ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[4]; ^[5]; ^[6]; ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[4]

Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; DOE/OSTI
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Nanjing Univ. (China). National Lab. of Solid State Microstructures
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Nanjing Univ. (China). National Lab. of Solid State Microstructures
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Geballe Lab. for Advanced Materials

A two-dimensional (2D) topological insulator exhibits the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect, in which topologically protected conducting channels exist at the sample edges. Experimental signatures of the QSH effect have recently been reported in an atomically thin material, monolayer WTe₂. Here, we directly image the local conductivity of monolayer WTe₂using microwave impedance microscopy, establishing beyond doubt that conduction is indeed strongly localized to the physical edges at temperatures up to 77 K and above. The edge conductivity shows no gap as a function of gate voltage, and is suppressed by magnetic field as expected. We observe additional conducting features which can be explained by edge states following boundaries between topologically trivial and nontrivial regions. These observations will be critical for interpreting and improving the properties of devices incorporating WTe₂. Meanwhile, they reveal the robustness of the QSH channels and the potential to engineer them in the monolayer material platform.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF); National Science Foundation (NSF); State Key Program for Basic Research of China

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0002197; SC0018171

OSTI ID:: 1610664

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Journal Name: Science Advances Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 5; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited By (3)

Quantum Spin Hall Materials Cao, Chuanwu; Chen, Jian‐Hao Advanced Quantum Technologies, Vol. 2, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/qute.201900026	journal	July 2019
Magnetic proximity and nonreciprocal current switching in a monolayer WTe2 helical edge Zhao, Wenjin; Fei, Zaiyao; Song, Tiancheng Nature Materials, Vol. 19, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0620-0	journal	March 2020
Influence of lattice termination on the edge states of the quantum spin Hall insulator monolayer 1 T ′ − WTe 2 Lau, Alexander; Ray, Rajyavardhan; Varjas, Dániel Physical Review Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevmaterials.3.054206	journal	May 2019

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