Systemic Consequences of Disorder in Magnetically Self-Organized Topological MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4/$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ Superlattices

Abstract

MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4/$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ materials system has recently generated strong interest as a natural platform for realization of the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state. The system is magnetically much better ordered than substitutionally doped materials, however, the detrimental effects of certain disorders are becoming increasingly acknowledged. Here, from compiling structural, compositional, and magnetic metrics of disorder in ferromagnetic MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4/$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$ it is found that migration of Mn between MnBi${}_2$T$e_4$ septuple layers (SLs) and otherwise non-magnetic Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ quintuple layers (QLs) has systemic consequences - it induces ferromagnetic coupling of Mn-depleted SLs with Mn-doped QLs, seen in ferromagnetic resonance as an acoustic and optical resonance mode of the two coupled spin subsystems. Even for a large SL separation (n $\gtrsim$ 4 QLs) the structure cannot be considered as a stack of uncoupled two-dimensional layers. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory studies show that Mn disorder within an SL causes delocalization of electron wavefunctions and a change of the surface bandstructure as compared to the ideal MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4/$(Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$)${}_n$. These findings highlight the critical importance of inter- and intra-SL disorder towards achieving new QAH platforms as well as exploring novel axion physics in intrinsic topological magnets.

16 pages, 5 figures, corrected typos, corrected references to figures for section 5

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• The elusive quantum anomalous Hall effect in MnBi2Te4: a materials perspective
• On the topological surface states of the intrinsic magnetic topological insulator Mn-Bi-Te family
• Role of Magnetic Defects and Defect-engineering of Magnetic Topological Insulators
• Layer-by-layer disentanglement of Bloch states via frequency-domain photoemission
• Facet dependent surface energy gap on magnetic topological insulators
• Fermi level dependence of magnetism and magnetotransport in the magnetic topological insulators Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ and BiSbTe${}_3$ containing self-organized MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$ septuple layers
• Distinguishing Surface and Bulk Electromagnetism via Their Dynamics in an Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Insulator
• Vapor transport growth of MnBi2Te4 and related compounds
• Self-organization mechanism in Bridgman-grown MnBi2Te4/(Bi2Te3)n: influence on layer sequence and magnetic properties