Realization of the Axion Insulator State in Quantum Anomalous Hall Sandwich Heterostructures

Abstract

The 'magnetoelectric effect' arises from the coupling between magnetic and electric properties in materials. The Z2 invariant of topological insulators (TIs) leads to a quantized version of this phenomenon, known as the topological magnetoelectric (TME) effect. This effect can be realized in a new topological phase called an 'axion insulator' whose surface states are all gapped but the interior still obeys time reversal symmetry. We demonstrate such a phase using electrical transport measurements in a quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) sandwich heterostructure, in which two compositionally different magnetic TI layers are separated by an undoped TI layer. Magnetic force microscopy images of the same sample reveal sequential magnetization reversals of the top and bottom layers at different coercive fields, a consequence of the weak interlayer exchange coupling due to the spacer. When the magnetization is antiparallel, both the Hall resistance and Hall conductance show zero plateaus, accompanied by a large longitudinal resistance and vanishing longitudinal conductance, indicating the realization of an axion insulator state. Our findings thus show evidences for a phase of matter distinct from the established QAH state and provide a promising platform for the realization of the TME effect.

18-page manuscript + 24-page supplementary materials. Accepted by PRL

References in corpus (34)

• Topological Insulators
• Topological insulators and superconductors
• Experimental Observation of the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in a Magnetic Topological Insulator
• Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators
• Quantized Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulators
• Crossover of Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator of Bi2Se3 to the Two-Dimensional Limit
• High-precision realization of robust quantum anomalous Hall state in a hard ferromagnetic topological insulator
• Seeing the magnetic monopole through the mirror of topological surface states
• Magnetoelectric polarizability and axion electrodynamics in crystalline insulators
• Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Hg${}_{1-y}$Mn${}_y$Te Quantum Wells
• Trajectory of Anomalous Hall Effect toward the Quantized State in a Ferromagnetic Topological Insulator
• Scale-Invariant Dissipationless Chiral Transport in Magnetic Topological Insulators beyond the Two-Dimensional Limit
• Band structure engineering in (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 ternary topological insulators
• Giant Magneto-optical Kerr Effect and Universal Faraday Effect in Thin-film Topological Insulators
• Surface quantized anomalous Hall current and magneto-electric effect in magnetically disordered topological insulators
• Quantized Faraday and Kerr rotation and axion electrodynamics of a 3D topological insulator
• Magnetic modulation doping in topological insulators toward higher-temperature quantum anomalous Hall effect
• Precise quantization of anomalous Hall effect near zero magnetic field
• Carrier-independent ferromagnetism and giant anomalous Hall effect in magnetic topological insulator
• Topological quantization in units of the fine structure constant
• Landau quantization and the thickness limit of topological insulator thin films of Sb2Te3
• Quantized topological magnetoelectric effect of the zero-plateau quantum anomalous Hall state
• Tailoring tricolor structure of magnetic topological insulator for robust axion insulator
• Observation of the universal magnetoelectric effect in a 3D topological insulator
• Metal-to-Insulator Switching in Quantum Anomalous Hall States
• Zero-field dissipationless chiral edge transport and the nature of dissipation in the quantum anomalous Hall state
• Topological magneto-electric effects in thin films of topological insulators
• Giant Anisotropic Magnetoresistance in a Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator
• Universal Scaling of Quantum Anomalous Hall Plateau Transition
• Observation of the zero Hall plateau in a quantum anomalous Hall insulator
• Scaling of the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect as an Indicator of Axion Electrodynamics
• Large discrete jumps observed in the transition between Chern states in a ferromagnetic Topological Insulator
• Electric Field Tuning of the Surface Band Structure of Topological Insulator Sb2Te3 Thin Films
• Electrically tuned magnetic order and magnetoresistance in a topological insulator

Cited by in corpus (192)

• Prediction and observation of the first antiferromagnetic topological insulator
• Intrinsic magnetic topological insulators in van der Waals layered MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$-family materials
• Topological axion states in magnetic insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ with the quantized magnetoelectric effect
• Robust axion insulator and Chern insulator phases in a two-dimensional antiferromagnetic topological insulator
• Unique thickness-dependent properties of the van der Waals interlayer antiferromagnet $\mathrm{MnB}{\mathrm{i}}_2\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_4$ films
• Colloquium: Quantum anomalous Hall effect
• Progress and prospects in magnetic topological materials
• Higher-order Topology of Axion Insulator EuIn${}_2$As${}_2$
• Gapless surface Dirac cone in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Layer Hall effect in a 2D topological Axion antiferromagnet
• Topological Electronic Structure and Its Temperature Evolution in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi2Te4
• Intrinsic magnetic topological insulator phases in the Sb doped MnBi2Te4 bulks and thin flakes
• Large magnetic gap at the Dirac point in a Mn-induced Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ heterostructure
• Evidence for an axionic charge density wave in the Weyl semimetal (TaSe4)2I
• Axion Electrodynamics in Topological Materials
• Topological Materials Discovery from Crystal Symmetry
• Surface states and Rashba-type spin polarization in antiferromagnetic MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Surfaces of Axion Insulators
• Transport in two-dimensional topological materials: recent developments in experiment and theory
• Opportunities in topological insulator devices
• Non-Majorana Origin of the Half-Quantized Conductance Plateau in Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator and Superconductor Hybrid Structures
• A Proposal to Detect Dark Matter Using Axionic Topological Antiferromagnets
• Odd-even layer-number effect and layer-dependent magnetic phase diagrams in MnBi2Te4
• Magnetically Controllable Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Chern Number Tunable Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Monolayer Transitional Metal Oxides via Manipulating Magnetization Orientation
• Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi2Te4: Synthesis and Magnetic properties
• Topological electronic structure and intrinsic magnetization in MnBi${}_4$Te${}_7$: a Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$-derivative with a periodic Mn sublattice
• Mn-rich MnSb2Te4: A topological insulator with magnetic gap closing at high Curie temperatures of 45-50 K
• Large Anomalous Hall Effect in Topological Insulators with Proximitized Ferromagnetic Insulators
• Electronic states and magnetic response of MnBi2Te4 by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy
• Concurrence of Quantum Anomalous Hall and Topological Hall Effects in Magnetic Topological Insulator Sandwich Heterostructures
• Even-Odd Layer-Dependent Anomalous Hall Effect in Topological Magnet MnBi2Te4 Thin Films
• Intrinsic magnetic topological insulators
• Spectral signatures of the surface anomalous Hall effect in magnetic axion insulators
• Native Defects in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Topological transitions induced by antiferromagnetism in a thin-film topological insulator
• Large dynamical axion field in topological antiferromagnetic insulator Mn${}_2$Bi${}_2$Te${}_5$
• Orbital Complexity in Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Insulators MnBi${}_4$Te${}_7$ and MnBi${}_6$Te${}_{10}$
• On the matter of topological insulators as magnetoelectrics
• Axion optical induction of antiferromagnetic order
• Half-Quantized Hall Effect and Power Law Decay of Edge Current Distribution
• Magnetic Properties and Electronic Structure of Magnetic Topological Insulator MnBi${}_2$Se${}_4$
• Multiple magnetic topological phases in bulk van der Waals crystal MnSb4Te7
• Floquet Engineering of Nonequilibrium Valley-Polarized Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect with Tunable Chern Number
• Using nonlocal surface transport to identify the axion insulator
• Any Axion Insulator Must be a Bulk Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator
• Topological Hall Effect in a Topological Insulator Interfaced with a Magnetic Insulator
• Routes to realize the axion-insulator phase in MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ family: a perspective
• Altermagnetic surface states: towards the observation and utilization of altermagnetism in thin films, interfaces and topological materials
• Interface-Induced Sign Reversal of the Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulator Heterostructures
• Dynamical axion state with hidden pseudospin Chern numbers in MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$-based heterostructures
• Origins of electronic bands in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Field-induced Topological Hall effect in antiferromagnetic axion insulator candidate EuIn${}_2$As${}_2$
• Signature of band inversion in the antiferromagnetic phase of axion insulator candidate EuIn2As2
• Distinct magnetic gaps between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic orders driven by surface defects in the topological magnet MnBi2Te4
• Spectroscopic realization of large surface gap in a doped magnetic topological insulator
• Hybridization-Induced Gapped and Gapless States on the Surfaces of Magnetic Topological Insulators
• Mapping the Dirac fermions in intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulators (MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$)(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ (n=0, 1)
• Quantum anomalous Hall edge channels survive up to the Curie temperature
• Dissipationless Layertronics in Axion Insulator $\mathrm{MnB}{\mathrm{i}}_2\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_4$
• Changes of Magnetism in a Magnetic Insulator due to Proximity to a Topological Insulator
• Critical Behavior and Universal Signature of an Axion Insulator State
• Transport Theory of Half-quantized Hall Conductance in a Semi-magnetic Topological Insulator
• Axion Insulator State in a Ferromagnet/Topological Insulator/Antiferromagnet Heterostructure
• Progress and prospects in the quantum anomalous Hall effect
• Anisotropic topological magnetoelectric effect in axion insulators
• Observation of Interfacial Antiferromagnetic Coupling between Magnetic Topological Insulator and Antiferromagnetic Insulator
• Tunable dynamical magnetoelectric effect in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ films
• Creation of Chiral Interface Channels for Quantized Transport in Magnetic Topological Insulator Multilayer Heterostructures
• Scaling Behavior of the Quantum Phase Transition from a Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator to an Axion Insulator
• Quantum Imaging of Magnetic Phase Transitions and Spin Fluctuations in Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Nanoflakes
• Zero Magnetic Field Plateau Phase Transition in Higher Chern Number Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators
• Delocalization Transition of Disordered Axion Insulator
• Massive Dirac fermions in moiré superlattices: a route towards topological flat minibands
• Piezoelectricity and Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in Two-Dimensional Spin-Orbit Coupled Crystals with Time-Reversal Symmetry
• Light-induced half-quantized Hall effect and axion insulator
• Observation of superparamagnetism in coexistence with quantum anomalous Hall C=$\pm$1 and C=0 Chern states
• Axion Insulator State with ferromagnetic ordering in CrI3/Bi2Se3/MnBi2Se4 Heterostructure
• Engineering the breaking of time-reversal symmetry in gate-tunable hybrid ferromagnet/topological insulator heterostructures
• Interaction driven surface Chern insulator in nodal line semimetals
• Magnetic Anisotropy in Two-dimensional van der Waals Magnetic Materials and Their Heterostructures: Importance, Mechanisms, and Opportunities
• Hinged Quantum Spin-Hall Effect in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulators
• Incipient antiferromagnetism in the Eu-doped topological insulator Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Magnetic-Resonance-Induced Pseudo-electric Field and Giant Current Response in Axion Insulators
• Magnetization-tuned topological quantum phase transition in MnBi2Te4 devices
• Perspective: Heusler interfaces -- opportunities beyond spintronics?
• Electrically Controlled Anomalous Hall Effect and Orbital Magnetization in Topological Magnet MnBi2Te4
• Ferromagnetic MnBi4Te7 obtained with low concentration Sb doping: A promising platform for exploring topological quantum states
• Half-Quantized Helical Hinge Currents in Axion Insulators
• Chern Number Tunable Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Compensated Antiferromagnets
• Fabrication-induced even-odd discrepancy of magnetotransport in few-layer MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Giant nonlocal edge conduction in the axion insulator state of MnBi2Te4
• Magnetic-field-induced topological phase transition in Fe-doped (Bi,Sb)${}_2$Se${}_3$ heterostructures
• Intrinsic magnetic topological insulators of the MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ family
• Infrared study of the multiband low-energy excitations of the topological antiferromagnet MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Chromium-Induced Ferromagnetism with Perpendicular Anisotropy in Topological Crystalline Insulator SnTe (111) Thin Films
• Realization of the Chern insulator and Axion insulator phases in antiferromagnetic $MnTe$-$B{i}_2(Se,Te{)}_3$-$MnTe$ heterostructures
• Axion Insulator State in Hundred-Nanometer-Thick Magnetic Topological Insulator Sandwich Heterostructures
• Evolution of the electronic structure of ultrathin MnBi2Te4 Films
• Topological surface states of MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ at finite temperatures and at domain walls
• Superexchange dominates in magnetic topological insulators
• Systemic Consequences of Disorder in Magnetically Self-Organized Topological MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4/$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ Superlattices
• Reversed electromagnetic Vavilov-Čerenkov radiation in naturally existing magnetoelectric media
• Elucidating proximity magnetism through polarized neutron reflectometry and machine learning
• Chirality manipulation of ultrafast phase switchings in a correlated CDW-Weyl semimetal
• Intrinsic and tunable quantum anomalous Hall effect and magnetic topological phases in XYBi2Te5
• Surface Charge Induced Dirac Band Splitting in a Charge Density Wave Material (TaSe4)2I
• Even-Odd Layer-Dependent Exchange Bias Effect in MnBi2Te4 Chern Insulator Devices
• Observation of magnetism induced topological edge state in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi4Te7
• Coexistence of Superconductivity and Antiferromagnetism in Topological Magnet MnBi2Te4 Films
• Orbital Edelstein effect from density-wave order
• Dynamical Piezomagnetic Effect in Time-Reversal Invariant Weyl Semimetals with Axionic Charge-Density Waves
• Ubiquitous impact of localised impurity states on the exchange coupling mechanism in magnetic topological insulators
• Non-local sidewall response and deviation from exact quantization of the topological magnetoelectric effect in axion-insulator thin films
• Unusual Intralayer Ferromagnetism Between S = 5/2 ions in MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$: Role of Empty Bi $p$ States
• Demonstration of Dissipative Quasihelical Edge Transport in Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators
• Direct visualization of surface spin-flip transition in MnBi4Te7
• Magnetic warping in topological insulators
• Modification of transition radiation by three-dimensional topological insulators
• High spin axion insulator
• Spectral features of magnetic domain walls on surface of 3D topological insulators
• Group theory study of the vibrational modes and magnetic order in the topological antiferromagnet MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Interplay of Altermagnetic Order and Wilson Mass in the Dirac Equation: Helical Edge States without Time-Reversal Symmetry
• Structurally and Chemically Compatible BiInSe3 Substrate for Topological Insulator Thin Films
• Effective action approach to the filling anomaly in crystalline topological matter
• Momentum-inversion symmetry breaking on the Fermi surface of magnetic topological insulators
• Magnetization governed magnetoresistance anisotropy in topological semimetal CeBi
• The Layer Hall Effect without External Electric Field
• Topological Magnetoelectric Response in Ferromagnetic Axion Insulators
• Suppressing carrier density in (BixSb1-x)2Te3 films using Cr2O3 interfacial layers
• Topological Magnetoelectric Effect: Nonlinear Time-Reversal-Symmetric Response, Witten Effect, and Half-Integer Quantum Hall Effect
• Quantum anomalous Hall effects controlled by chiral domain walls
• A Dirac-fermion approach and its application to design high Chern numbers in magnetic topological insulator multilayers
• Surface state evolution induced by magnetic order in axion insulator candidate EuIn2As2
• Superconductivity by alloying the topological insulator SnBi2Te4
• Facet dependent surface energy gap on magnetic topological insulators
• Infrared study of the interplay of charge, spin, and lattice excitations in the magnetic topological insulator EuIn${}_2$As${}_2$
• Gate tunable quantum Hall effects in defect-suppressed Bi2Se3 films
• Topology of chalcogen chains
• Implementing Microwave Impedance Microscopy in a Dilution Refrigerator
• On the half-quantized Hall conductance of massive surface electrons in magnetic topological insulator films
• Spacer-layer-tunable magnetism and high-field topological Hall effect in topological insulator heterostructures
• Long-Time Magnetic Relaxation in Antiferromagnetic Topological Material EuCd${}_2$As${}_2$
• Axion insulators protected by C2T and their K-theory invariants and material realization
• Ambi-chiral anomalous Hall effect in magnetically doped topological insulators
• Pseudo-gauge Fields in Dirac and Weyl Materials
• Magnetization-Induced Phase Transitions on the surface of 3D Topological Insulators
• Electrical control of intrinsic nonlinear Hall effect in antiferromagnetic topological insulator sandwiches
• Dirac Fermions and Topological Phases in Magnetic Topological Insulator Films
• Evidence for Half-Quantized Chiral Edge Current in a C = 1/2 Parity Anomaly State
• Optical intersubband properties of a core-shell semiconductor-topological insulator quantum dot described by $\theta$-Electrodynamics
• Topological Insulators-Based Magnetic Heterostructure
• Dynamical magnetoelectric coupling in axion insulator thin films
• Gapless Criterion for Crystals from Effective Axion Field
• Induced Spin-texture at 3$d$ Transition Metal/Topological Insulator Interfaces
• Direct probe of ferromagnetic proximity effect at the interface in Fe/SnTe heterostructure by polarized neutron reflectometry
• Three-Dimensional Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulator Trilayers of Hundred-Nanometer Thickness
• Strong spin-dephasing in a topological insulator - paramagnet heterostructure
• Controllable Majorana fermions on domain walls of a magnetic topological insulator
• Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation for parallel motion in three-dimensional topological insulators
• From classical to quantum regime of topological surface states via defect engineering
• Chiral edge state coupling theory of transport in quantum anomalous Hall insulators
• Dissipative Edge Transport in Disordered Axion Insulator Films
• Intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator and axion state in V2WS4
• Axion insulator, Weyl points, quantum anomalous Hall effect and magnetic topological phase transition in Eu3In2As4
• Planar magnetic texture on the surface of a topological insulator
• Gate-tunable magnetoresistance in six-septuple-layer MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Epitaxial growth and magnetic characterization of EuSe thin films with various crystalline orientations
• Dirac Quantum Wells at Domain Walls in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulators
• Bulk-Boundary Correspondence for Topological Insulators with Quantized Magneto-Electric Effect
• Parity Anomalous Semimetal with Minimal Conductivity Induced by an In-Plane Magnetic Field
• Incommensurate magnetic order in an axion insulator candidate EuIn${}_2$As${}_2$ investigated by NMR measurement
• High-resolution ARPES endstation for in-situ electronic structure investigations at SSRF
• Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ thin films heteroepitaxially grown on $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Quantum dual-path interferometry scheme for axion dark matter searches
• Chiral edge transport along domain walls in magnetic topological insulator nanoribbons
• Direct visualization of edge state in even-layer MnBi2Te4 at zero magnetic field
• Topological Aspects of Antiferromagnets
• Absence of Parity Anomaly in Massive Dirac Fermions on a Lattice
• Unoccupied Topological Surface State in MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Quantum anomalous Hall effect with tunable Chern numbers induced by d-wave sublattice-staggered altermagnetism
• Emergent Weyl-like points in periodically modulated systems
• Spectroscopic footprints of quantum friction in nonreciprocal and chiral media
• Interface ferromagnetism and anomalous Hall effect of CdO/ferromagnetic insulator heterostructures
• Magnetic interactions of 4$f$ electrons in the topological insulator chalcogenide Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Fate of surface gaps in magnetic topological insulators
• Phase equilibria in MnSb2Te4-GeSb2Te4 system and magnetic properties of Mn1-xGexSb2Te4 solid solutions
• Interlayer Exchange Coupling-Induced Critical-Metal-to-Insulator Phase Transition in Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators
• Sb doping effect on transport behavior in the topological insulator Bi2Se3
• High Chern number phase in topological insulator multilayer structures: a Dirac cone model study
• Synthesis of intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi2nTe3n+1 family by chemical vapor transport method with feedback regulation
• Optical Response from Charge-Density Waves in Weyl Semimetals