Crossover from 2D Ferromagnetic Insulator to Wide Band Gap Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator in Ultrathin MnBi2Te4
- Monash Univ., Clayton, VIC (Australia)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- KTH, Applied Physics, Stockholm (Sweden)
- Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, VIC (Australia)
Intrinsic magnetic topological insulators offer low disorder and large magnetic band gaps for robust magnetic topological phases operating at higher temperatures. By controlling the layer thickness, emergent phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect and axion insulator phases have been realized. Furthermore, these observations occur at temperatures significantly lower than the Néel temperature of bulk MnBi2Te4, and measurement of the magnetic energy gap at the Dirac point in ultrathin MnBi2Te4 has yet to be achieved. Critical to achieving the promise of this system is a direct measurement of the layer-dependent energy gap and verification of a temperature-dependent topological phase transition from a large band gap QAH insulator to a gapless TI paramagnetic phase. Here we utilize temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study epitaxial ultrathin MnBi2Te4. We directly observe a layer-dependent crossover from a 2D ferromagnetic insulator with a band gap greater than 780 meV in one septuple layer (1 SL) to a QAH insulator with a large energy gap (>70 meV) at 8 K in 3 and 5 SL MnBi2Te4. The QAH gap is confirmed to be magnetic in origin, as it becomes gapless with increasing temperature above 8 K.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1818276
- Journal Information:
- ACS Nano, Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 15; ISSN 1936-0851
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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OSTI ID:1860440