Spin Helix of Magnetic Impurities in Two-dimensional Helical Metal

Abstract

We analyze the Ruderman-Kettel-Kasuya-Yosida(RKKY) interaction between magnetic impurities embedded in the helical metal on the surface of three-dimensional topological insulators. Apart from the conventional RKKY terms, the spin-momentum locking of conduction electrons also leads to a significant Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction between impurity spins. For a chain of magnetic impurities, the DM term can result in single-handed spin helix on the surface. The handedness of spin helix is locked with the sign of Fermi velocity of the emergent Dirac fermions on the surface. We also show the polarization of impurity spins can be controlled via electric voltage for dilute magnetic impurity concentration.

4 pages, 3 figures

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• Concurrence of Quantum Anomalous Hall and Topological Hall Effects in Magnetic Topological Insulator Sandwich Heterostructures
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• Indirect exchange interaction between magnetic impurities near the helical edge
• Spin Susceptibility and Helical Magnetic Orders at the Edges/Surfaces of Topological Insulators Due to Fermi Surface Nesting
• The dynamics of local magnetic moments induced by itinerant Weyl electrons
• Colossal anisotropy in diluted magnetic topological insulators
• Gapless Topological Superconductors - Model Hamiltonian and Realization
• Indirect exchange interaction between magnetic impurities in the two-dimensional topological insulator based on CdTe/HgTe/CdTe quantum wells
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• Twisted magnetic topological insulators
• Ferromagnetism and glassiness on the surface of topological insulators
• On the Sign of Fermion-Mediated Interactions
• Tuning the electronic structure and magnetic coupling in armchair B${}_2$S nanoribbons using strain and staggered sublattice potential
• Nested Defects on the Boundary of Topological Superconductors
• Topological insulator in a helicoidal magnetization field
• Enhancement of Curie Temperature in Ferromagnetic Insulator-Topological Insulator Heterostructures