Axion insulator state in hundred-nanometer-thick magnetic topological insulator sandwich heterostructures

Zhuo, Deyi; Yan, Zi-Jie; Sun, Zi-Ting; Zhou, Ling-Jie; Zhao, Yi-Fan; Zhang, Ruoxi; Mei, Ruobing; Yi, Hemian; Wang, Ke; Chan, Moses H. W.; Liu, Chao-Xing; Law, K. T.; Chang, Cui-Zu

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-43474-x

Title: Axion insulator state in hundred-nanometer-thick magnetic topological insulator sandwich heterostructures

Journal Article · 21 November 2023 · Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43474-x · OSTI ID:2217414

^[1];

^[2];

^[1];

^[1]; Mei, Ruobing ^[1]; Yi, Hemian ^[1]; Wang, Ke ^[1];

^[1];

^[2];

^[1]

Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (Hong Kong)

An axion insulator is a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI), in which the bulk maintains the time-reversal symmetry or inversion symmetry but the surface states are gapped by surface magnetization. The axion insulator state has been observed in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown magnetically doped TI sandwiches and exfoliated intrinsic magnetic TI MnBi₂Te₄ flakes with an even number layer. All these samples have a thickness of ~ 10 nm, near the 2D-to-3D boundary. The coupling between the top and bottom surface states in thin samples may hinder the observation of quantized topological magnetoelectric response. Here, we employ MBE to synthesize magnetic TI sandwich heterostructures and find that the axion insulator state persists in a 3D sample with a thickness of ~ 106 nm. Our transport results show that the axion insulator state starts to emerge when the thickness of the middle undoped TI layer is greater than ~ 3 nm. The 3D hundred-nanometer-thick axion insulator provides a promising platform for the exploration of the topological magnetoelectric effect and other emergent magnetic topological states, such as the high-order TI phase.

View Journal Article

Cite

Export

Save

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0023113

OSTI ID:: 2217414

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2472126

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 14, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (40)

Observation of Interfacial Antiferromagnetic Coupling between Magnetic Topological Insulator and Antiferromagnetic Insulator Wang, Fei; Xiao, Di; Yuan, Wei Nano Letters, Vol. 19, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b00027	journal	March 2019
Colloquium : Quantum anomalous Hall effect Chang, Cui-Zu; Liu, Chao-Xing; MacDonald, Allan H. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 95, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.95.011002	journal	January 2023
Half-quantized Hall effect and power law decay of edge-current distribution Zou, Jin-Yu; Fu, Bo; Wang, Huan-Wen Physical Review B, Vol. 105, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.L201106	journal	May 2022
Universal Conductivity at the Quantum Hall Liquid to Insulator Transition Shahar, D.; Tsui, D. C.; Shayegan, M. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 74, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.4511	journal	May 1995
Spectral signatures of the surface anomalous Hall effect in magnetic axion insulators Gu, Mingqiang; Li, Jiayu; Sun, Hongyi Nature Communications, Vol. 12, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23844-z	journal	June 2021
Landau Quantization and the Thickness Limit of Topological Insulator Thin Films of Sb 2 Te 3 Jiang, Yeping; Wang, Yilin; Chen, Mu Physical Review Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.016401	journal	January 2012
High-precision realization of robust quantum anomalous Hall state in a hard ferromagnetic topological insulator Chang, Cui-Zu; Zhao, Weiwei; Kim, Duk Y. Nature Materials, Vol. 14, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4204	journal	March 2015
Zero Magnetic Field Plateau Phase Transition in Higher Chern Number Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators Zhao, Yi-Fan; Zhang, Ruoxi; Zhou, Ling-Jie Physical Review Letters, Vol. 128, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.216801	journal	May 2022
Ferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling in semiconductor SbCrTe∕Sb2Te3∕SbCrTe trilayer structures Zhou, Zhenhua; Chien, Yi-Jiunn; Uher, Ctirad Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 89, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2398905	journal	December 2006
Higher-order topological insulators Schindler, Frank; Cook, Ashley M.; Vergniory, Maia G. Science Advances, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat0346	journal	June 2018
Experimental Observation of the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in a Magnetic Topological Insulator Chang, C. -Z.; Zhang, J.; Feng, X. Science, Vol. 340, Issue 6129 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1234414	journal	March 2013
Möbius Insulator and Higher-Order Topology in MnBi 2 n Te 3 n + 1 Zhang, Rui-Xing; Wu, Fengcheng; Das Sarma, S. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 124, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.136407	journal	April 2020
Quantized topological magnetoelectric effect of the zero-plateau quantum anomalous Hall state Wang, Jing; Lian, Biao; Qi, Xiao-Liang Physical Review B, Vol. 92, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.081107	journal	August 2015
Any axion insulator must be a bulk three-dimensional topological insulator Fijalkowski, K. M.; Liu, N.; Hartl, M. Physical Review B, Vol. 103, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.103.235111	journal	June 2021
Scale-Invariant Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulators beyond the Two-Dimensional Limit Kou, Xufeng; Guo, Shih-Ting; Fan, Yabin Physical Review Letters, Vol. 113, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.137201	journal	September 2014
Surfaces of axion insulators Varnava, Nicodemos; Vanderbilt, David Physical Review B, Vol. 98, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.245117	journal	December 2018
Concurrence of quantum anomalous Hall and topological Hall effects in magnetic topological insulator sandwich heterostructures Jiang, Jue; Xiao, Di; Wang, Fei Nature Materials, Vol. 19, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0605-z	journal	February 2020
Realization of the Axion Insulator State in Quantum Anomalous Hall Sandwich Heterostructures Xiao, Di; Jiang, Jue; Shin, Jae-Ho Physical Review Letters, Vol. 120, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.056801	journal	January 2018
Scaling behavior of the quantum phase transition from a quantum-anomalous-Hall insulator to an axion insulator Wu, Xinyu; Xiao, Di; Chen, Chui-Zhen Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18312-z	journal	September 2020
Magnetoelectric Polarizability and Axion Electrodynamics in Crystalline Insulators Essin, Andrew M.; Moore, Joel E.; Vanderbilt, David Physical Review Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.146805	journal	April 2009
Trajectory of the anomalous Hall effect towards the quantized state in a ferromagnetic topological insulator Checkelsky, J. G.; Yoshimi, R.; Tsukazaki, A. Nature Physics, Vol. 10, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3053	journal	August 2014
Robust axion insulator and Chern insulator phases in a two-dimensional antiferromagnetic topological insulator Liu, Chang; Wang, Yongchao; Li, Hao Nature Materials https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0573-3	journal	January 2020
Metal-to-insulator switching in quantum anomalous Hall states Kou, Xufeng; Pan, Lei; Wang, Jing Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9474	journal	October 2015
Observation of the Zero Hall Plateau in a Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator Feng, Yang; Feng, Xiao; Ou, Yunbo Physical Review Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.126801	journal	September 2015
Enhancing the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect by Magnetic Codoping in a Topological Insulator Ou, Yunbo; Liu, Chang; Jiang, Gaoyuan Advanced Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201703062	journal	November 2017
Tailoring tricolor structure of magnetic topological insulator for robust axion insulator Mogi, Masataka; Kawamura, Minoru; Tsukazaki, Atsushi Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao1669	journal	October 2017
Topological magnetoelectric effects in thin films of topological insulators Morimoto, Takahiro; Furusaki, Akira; Nagaosa, Naoto Physical Review B, Vol. 92, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.085113	journal	August 2015
Scaling of the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect as an Indicator of Axion Electrodynamics Grauer, S.; Fijalkowski, K. M.; Schreyeck, S. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 118, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.246801	journal	June 2017
Tuning the Chern number in quantum anomalous Hall insulators Zhao, Yi-Fan; Zhang, Ruoxi; Mei, Ruobing Nature, Vol. 588, Issue 7838 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3020-3	journal	December 2020
Magnetic modulation doping in topological insulators toward higher-temperature quantum anomalous Hall effect Mogi, M.; Yoshimi, R.; Tsukazaki, A. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4935075	journal	November 2015
Using nonlocal surface transport to identify the axion insulator Chen, Rui; Li, Shuai; Sun, Hai-Peng Physical Review B, Vol. 103, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.103.L241409	journal	June 2021
Half-quantized helical hinge currents in axion insulators Gong, Ming; Liu, Haiwen; Jiang, Hua National Science Review, Vol. 10, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad025	journal	February 2023
Two applications of axion electrodynamics Wilczek, Frank Physical Review Letters, Vol. 58, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.58.1799	journal	May 1987
Topological field theory of time-reversal invariant insulators Qi, Xiao-Liang; Hughes, Taylor L.; Zhang, Shou-Cheng Physical Review B, Vol. 78, Issue 19, Article No. 195424 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.195424	journal	November 2008
Inducing a Magnetic Monopole with Topological Surface States Qi, X. -L.; Li, R.; Zang, J. Science, Vol. 323, Issue 5918 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167747	journal	February 2009
Crossover of the three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3 to the two-dimensional limit Zhang, Yi; He, Ke; Chang, Cui-Zu Nature Physics, Vol. 6, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1689	journal	June 2010
Interlayer exchange in (Ga,Mn)As/(Al,Ga)As/(Ga,Mn)As semiconducting ferromagnet/nonmagnet/ferromagnet trilayer structures Akiba, N.; Matsukura, F.; Shen, A. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 73, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.122398	journal	October 1998
Surface-Quantized Anomalous Hall Current and the Magnetoelectric Effect in Magnetically Disordered Topological Insulators Nomura, Kentaro; Nagaosa, Naoto Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.166802	journal	April 2011
CP Conservation in the Presence of Pseudoparticles Peccei, R. D.; Quinn, Helen R. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 38, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.38.1440	journal	June 1977
Electronic Structure of Disordered Alloys, Surfaces and Interfaces Turek, Ilja; Drchal, Václav; Kudrnovský, Josef https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6255-9	book	January 1997

Similar Records

3D Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulator Trilayers of Hundred‐Nanometer Thickness

Journal Article · 2023 · Advanced Materials · OSTI ID:2263409

Zhao, Yi‐Fan; Zhang, Ruoxi; Sun, Zi‐Ting; +9 more

Spin-resolved topology and partial axion angles in three-dimensional insulators

Journal Article · 2024 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:2281407

Lin, Kuan-Sen; Palumbo, Giandomenico; Guo, Zhaopeng; +8 more

Intrinsic axion insulating behavior in antiferromagnetic MnBi₆Te₁₀

Journal Article · 2020 · Physical Review. B · OSTI ID:1639097

Jo, Na Hyun; Wang, Lin-Lin; Slager, Robert-Jan; +6 more

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
magnetic properties and materials
quantum Hall
surfaces
interfaces
thin films
topological insulators

Title: Axion insulator state in hundred-nanometer-thick magnetic topological insulator sandwich heterostructures

Citation Formats

References (40)

Similar Records

Related Subjects