Tunable interlayer magnetism and band topology in van der Waals heterostructures of MnBi2Te4-family materials

Abstract

Manipulating the interlayer magnetic coupling in van der Waals magnetic materials and heterostructures is the key to tailoring their magnetic and electronic properties for various electronic applications and fundamental studies in condensed matter physics. By utilizing the MnBi2Te4-family compounds and their heterostructures as a model system, we systematically studied the dependence of the sign and strength of interlayer magnetic coupling on constituent elements by using first-principles calculations. It was found that the coupling is a long-range superexchange interaction mediated by the chains of p orbitals between the magnetic atoms of neighboring septuple-layers. The interlayer exchange is always antiferromagnetic in the pure compounds, but can be tuned to ferromagnetic in some combinations of heterostructures, dictated by d orbital occupations. Strong interlayer magnetic coupling can be realized if the medial p electrons are delocalized and the d bands of magnetic atoms are near the Fermi level. The knowledge on the interlayer coupling mechanism enables us to engineer magnetic and topological properties of MnBi2Te4-family materials as well as many other insulating van der Waals magnetic materials and heterostructures.

arXiv comment19 pages, 4 figures, and 1 table

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• Controllable chirality and band gap of quantum anomalous Hall insulators
• Magnetic Anisotropy in Two-dimensional van der Waals Magnetic Materials and Their Heterostructures: Importance, Mechanisms, and Opportunities
• Antiferromagnetic VdW Phase at the Interface of Sputtered Topological Insulator/Ferromagnet-Bi2Te3/Ni80Fe20 Heterostructures
• Interlayer Ferromagnetism and High-Temperature Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in \textit{p}-Doped MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ Multilayers
• Intrinsic and tunable quantum anomalous Hall effect and magnetic topological phases in XYBi2Te5
• Ferroelectrically switchable magnetic multistates in MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ and MnSb${}_2$Te${}_4$(Sb${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ (n = 0, 1) thin films
• Multimechanism quantum anomalous Hall and Chern number tunable states in germanene (silicene, stanene)/$M$Bi${}_2$Te${}_4$ heterostructures
• Alloying V in MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ for Robust Ferromagnetic Coupling and Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect
• Novel magnetic topological insulator FeBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ with controllable topological quantum phase
• Effects of Crystalline Disorder on Interfacial and Magnetic Properties of Sputtered Topological Insulator/Ferromagnet Heterostructures
• Intrinsic ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic axion insulators in van der Waals materials Mn\emph{X}${}_2$\emph{B}${}_2$\emph{T}${}_6$ family
• Universally optimizable strategy for magnetic gaps towards high-temperature quantum anomalous Hall states via magnetic-insulator/topological-insulator building-blocks
• Interface Engineering Enabled Low Temperature Growth of Magnetic Insulator on Topological Insulator
• Infrared study of the layered, magnetic insulator Mn(Bi${}_{0.07}$Sb${}_{0.93}$)${}_2$Te${}_4$ at low temperatures
• Layer dependent topological phases and transitions in TaRhTe${}_4$: From monolayer and bilayer to bulk
• Optical study of the charge dynamics evolution in the topological insulators MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ and Mn(Bi${}_{0.74}$Sb${}_{0.26}$)${}_2$Te${}_4$ under high pressure
• First-principles discovery of novel quantum physics and materials: From theory to experiment