Tuning the Chern number in quantum anomalous Hall insulators

Zhao, Yi-Fan; Zhang, Ruoxi; Mei, Ruobing; Zhou, Ling-Jie; Yi, Hemian; Zhang, Ya-Qi; Yu, Jiabin; Xiao, Run; Wang, Ke; Samarth, Nitin; Chan, Moses H. W.; Liu, Chao-Xing; Chang, Cui-Zu

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-3020-3

Tuning the Chern number in quantum anomalous Hall insulators

Journal Article · Wed Dec 16 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Nature (London)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3020-3· OSTI ID:1783152

^[1]; Zhang, Ruoxi ^[2]; Mei, Ruobing ^[2]; Zhou, Ling-Jie ^[2]; Yi, Hemian ^[2]; Zhang, Ya-Qi ^[2]; Yu, Jiabin ^[2]; Xiao, Run ^[2]; Wang, Ke ^[2]; Samarth, Nitin ^[2]; Chan, Moses H. W. ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[2]

Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States); Penn State University
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

A quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state is a two-dimensional topological insulating state that has a quantized Hall resistance of h/(Ce²) and vanishing longitudinal resistance under zero magnetic field (where h is the Planck constant, e is the elementary charge, and the Chern number C is an integer). The QAH effect has been realized in magnetic topological insulators and magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. However, the QAH effect at zero magnetic field has so far been realized only for C = 1. Here we realize a well quantized QAH effect with tunable Chern number (up to C = 5) in multilayer structures consisting of alternating magnetic and undoped topological insulator layers, fabricated using molecular beam epitaxy. The Chern number of these QAH insulators is determined by the number of undoped topological insulator layers in the multilayer structure. Moreover, we demonstrate that the Chern number of a given multilayer structure can be tuned by varying either the magnetic doping concentration in the magnetic topological insulator layers or the thickness of the interior magnetic topological insulator layer. We develop a theoretical model to explain our experimental observations and establish phase diagrams for QAH insulators with high, tunable Chern number. Furthermore, the realization of such insulators facilitates the application of dissipationless chiral edge currents in energy-efficient electronic devices, and opens up opportunities for developing multi-channel quantum computing and higher-capacity chiral circuit interconnects.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019064; SC0019331

OSTI ID:: 1783152

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1900559

Journal Information:: Nature (London), Journal Name: Nature (London) Journal Issue: 7838 Vol. 588; ISSN 0028-0836

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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