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Title: Metal-to-insulator switching in quantum anomalous Hall states

Abstract

After decades of searching for the dissipationless transport in the absence of any external magnetic field, quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) was recently achieved in magnetic topological insulator films. However, the universal phase diagram of QAHE and its relation with quantum Hall effect (QHE) remain to be investigated. Here, we report the experimental observation of the giant longitudinal resistance peak and zero Hall conductance plateau at the coercive field in the six quintuple-layer (Cr0.12Bi0.26Sb0.62)2Te3 film, and demonstrate the metal-to-insulator switching between two opposite QAHE plateau states up to 0.3 K. Moreover, the universal QAHE phase diagram is confirmed through the angle-dependent measurements. Our results address that the quantum phase transitions in both QAHE and QHE regimes are in the same universality class, yet the microscopic details are different. Additionally, the realization of the QAHE insulating state unveils new ways to explore quantum phase-related physics and applications.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  2. Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  3. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  4. Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1239297
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1270629
Report Number(s):
SLAC-PUB-16656
Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723; ncomms9474
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; physical sciences; applied sciences; condensed matter; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; MATSCI

Citation Formats

Kou, Xufeng, Pan, Lei, Wang, Jing, Fan, Yabin, Choi, Eun Sang, Lee, Wei -Li, Nie, Tianxiao, Murata, Koichi, Shao, Qiming, Zhang, Shou -Cheng, and Wang, Kang L. Metal-to-insulator switching in quantum anomalous Hall states. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1038/ncomms9474.
Kou, Xufeng, Pan, Lei, Wang, Jing, Fan, Yabin, Choi, Eun Sang, Lee, Wei -Li, Nie, Tianxiao, Murata, Koichi, Shao, Qiming, Zhang, Shou -Cheng, & Wang, Kang L. Metal-to-insulator switching in quantum anomalous Hall states. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9474
Kou, Xufeng, Pan, Lei, Wang, Jing, Fan, Yabin, Choi, Eun Sang, Lee, Wei -Li, Nie, Tianxiao, Murata, Koichi, Shao, Qiming, Zhang, Shou -Cheng, and Wang, Kang L. 2015. "Metal-to-insulator switching in quantum anomalous Hall states". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9474. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1239297.
@article{osti_1239297,
title = {Metal-to-insulator switching in quantum anomalous Hall states},
author = {Kou, Xufeng and Pan, Lei and Wang, Jing and Fan, Yabin and Choi, Eun Sang and Lee, Wei -Li and Nie, Tianxiao and Murata, Koichi and Shao, Qiming and Zhang, Shou -Cheng and Wang, Kang L.},
abstractNote = {After decades of searching for the dissipationless transport in the absence of any external magnetic field, quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) was recently achieved in magnetic topological insulator films. However, the universal phase diagram of QAHE and its relation with quantum Hall effect (QHE) remain to be investigated. Here, we report the experimental observation of the giant longitudinal resistance peak and zero Hall conductance plateau at the coercive field in the six quintuple-layer (Cr0.12Bi0.26Sb0.62)2Te3 film, and demonstrate the metal-to-insulator switching between two opposite QAHE plateau states up to 0.3 K. Moreover, the universal QAHE phase diagram is confirmed through the angle-dependent measurements. Our results address that the quantum phase transitions in both QAHE and QHE regimes are in the same universality class, yet the microscopic details are different. Additionally, the realization of the QAHE insulating state unveils new ways to explore quantum phase-related physics and applications.},
doi = {10.1038/ncomms9474},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1239297}, journal = {Nature Communications},
issn = {2041-1723},
number = ,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Oct 07 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Wed Oct 07 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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