Unidirectional magneto-transport of linearly dispersing topological edge states

Abstract

Quantum spin-Hall edges are envisaged as next-generation transistors, yet they exhibit dissipationless transport only over short distances. Here we show that in a diffusive sample, where charge puddles with odd spin cause back-scattering, a magnetic field drastically increases the mean free path and drives the system into the ballistic regime with a Landauer-Buttiker conductance. A strong non-linear non-reciprocal current emerges in the diffusive regime with opposite signs on each edge, and vanishes in the ballistic limit. We discuss its detection in state-of-the-art experiments.

4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B Rapid Communications