Generalized quantization condition in topological insulator

Abstract

The topological magnetoelectric effect (TME) is the fundamental quantization effect for topological insulators in units of the fine structure constant $\alpha$. In [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 166803(2010)], a topological quantization condition of the TME is given under orthogonal incidence of the optical beam, in which the wave length of the light or the thickness of the TI film must be tuned to some commensurate values. This fine tuning is difficult to realize experimentally. In this article, we give manifestly $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ covariant expressions for Kerr and Faraday angles at oblique incidence at a topological insulator thick film. We obtain a generalized quantization condition independent of material details, and propose a more easily realizable optical experiment, in which only the incidence angle is tuned, to directly measure the topological quantization associated with the TME.

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References in corpus (10)

• Topological Insulators
• $Z_2$ Topological Order and the Quantum Spin Hall Effect
• Topological Insulators in Three Dimensions
• Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators
• Topological invariants of time-reversal-invariant band structures
• The quantum spin Hall effect and topological insulators
• Magnetoelectric polarizability and axion electrodynamics in crystalline insulators
• Giant Magneto-optical Kerr Effect and Universal Faraday Effect in Thin-film Topological Insulators
• Topological quantization in units of the fine structure constant
• Electric-Magnetic Duality and Topological Insulators

Cited by in corpus (8)

• THz response and colossal Kerr rotation from the surface states of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Surface Plasmons and Topological Insulators
• Resonant manifestations of chiral excitons in magnetooptical Faraday and Kerr effects in topological insulator film
• Electromagnetic effects induced by time-dependent axion field
• Spin-spin interaction in the bulk of topological insulators
• Axion instability and non-linear electromagnetic effect
• Resonant Faraday and Kerr effects due to in-gap states on the surface of a topological insulator
• A thermodynamic measure of the Magneto-electric coupling in the 3D topological insulator