Scaling of the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect as an Indicator of Axion Electrodynamics

Abstract

We report on the scaling behavior of V-doped (Bi,Sb)${}_2$Te${}_3$ samples in the quantum anomalous Hall regime for samples of various thickness. While previous quantum anomalous Hall measurements showed the same scaling as expected from a two-dimensional integer quantum Hall state, we observe a dimensional crossover to three spatial dimensions as a function of layer thickness. In the limit of a sufficiently thick layer, we find scaling behavior matching the flow diagram of two parallel conducting topological surface states of a three-dimensional topological insulator each featuring a fractional shift of $\frac{1}{2}{e}^2/h$ in the flow diagram Hall conductivity, while we recover the expected integer quantum Hall behavior for thinner layers. This constitutes the observation of a distinct type of quantum anomalous Hall effect, resulting from $\frac{1}{2}{e}^2/h$ Hall conductance quantization of three-dimensional topological insulator surface states, in an experiment which does not require decomposition of signal to separate the contribution of two surfaces. This provides a possible experimental link between quantum Hall physics and axion electrodynamics.

4+6 pages, 5+9 figures

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Cited by in corpus (38)

• Colloquium: Quantum anomalous Hall effect
• Mn-rich MnSb2Te4: A topological insulator with magnetic gap closing at high Curie temperatures of 45-50 K
• Orbital Complexity in Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Insulators MnBi${}_4$Te${}_7$ and MnBi${}_6$Te${}_{10}$
• Any Axion Insulator Must be a Bulk Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator
• Quantum anomalous Hall edge channels survive up to the Curie temperature
• Coexistence of surface and bulk ferromagnetism mimics skyrmion Hall effect in a topological insulator
• Progress and prospects in the quantum anomalous Hall effect
• Zero Magnetic Field Plateau Phase Transition in Higher Chern Number Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators
• Incipient antiferromagnetism in the Eu-doped topological insulator Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Axion Insulator State in Hundred-Nanometer-Thick Magnetic Topological Insulator Sandwich Heterostructures
• Distinct quantum anomalous Hall ground states induced by magnetic disorders
• Systemic Consequences of Disorder in Magnetically Self-Organized Topological MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4/$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ Superlattices
• Antiferromagnetic order in MnBi2Te4 films grown on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy
• Balanced Quantum Hall Resistor
• Current scaling of the topological quantum phase transition between a quantum anomalous Hall insulator and a trivial insulator
• Two-dimensional ferromagnetic extension of a topological insulator
• Phase transitions in intrinsic magnetic topological insulator with high-frequency pumping
• A Dirac-fermion approach and its application to design high Chern numbers in magnetic topological insulator multilayers
• Engineering axion insulator phase in superlattices with inversion symmetry breaking
• Ambi-chiral anomalous Hall effect in magnetically doped topological insulators
• Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling of a Topological Ferromagnet
• Large-gap quantum anomalous Hall states induced by functionalizing buckled Bi-III monolayer/Al${}_2$O${}_3$
• Topological Insulators-Based Magnetic Heterostructure
• Dynamical magnetoelectric coupling in axion insulator thin films
• Three-Dimensional Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulator Trilayers of Hundred-Nanometer Thickness
• Intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator and axion state in V2WS4
• Chiral edge state coupling theory of transport in quantum anomalous Hall insulators
• Engineering Plateau Phase Transition in Quantum Anomalous Hall Multilayers
• Dissipative Edge Transport in Disordered Axion Insulator Films
• Edge supercurrent in Josephson junctions based on topological materials
• Planar magnetic texture on the surface of a topological insulator
• Anomalous Fraunhofer-like patterns in quantum anomalous Hall Josephson junction
• Parity Anomalous Semimetal with Minimal Conductivity Induced by an In-Plane Magnetic Field
• Effects of GaAs buffer layer on quantum anomalous Hall insulator Vy(BixSb1-x)2-yTe3
• Topological Aspects of Antiferromagnets
• Self-organization mechanism in Bridgman-grown MnBi2Te4/(Bi2Te3)n: influence on layer sequence and magnetic properties
• Effects of GaAs Buffer Layer on Structural, Magnetic, and Transport Properties of Magnetic Topological Insulators Cr${}_y$(Bi${}_x$Sb${}_{1-x}$)${}_{2-y}$Te${}_3$ and V${}_y$(Bi${}_x$Sb${}_{1-x}$)${}_{2-y}$Te${}_3$ Films
• Interlayer Exchange Coupling-Induced Critical-Metal-to-Insulator Phase Transition in Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators