Approaching a Minimal Topological Electronic Structure in Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi2Te4 via Surface Modification

Abstract

The topological electronic structure plays a central role in the non-trivial physical properties in topological quantum materials. A minimal, hydrogen-atom-like topological electronic structure is desired for researches. In this work, we demonstrate an effort towards the realization of such a system in the intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4, by manipulating the topological surface state (TSS) via surface modification. Using high resolution laser- and synchrotron-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we found the TSS in MnBi2Te4 is heavily hybridized with a trivial Rashba-type surface state (RSS), which could be efficiently removed by the in situ surface potassium (K) dosing. By employing multiple experimental methods to characterize K dosed surface, we attribute such a modification to the electrochemical reactions of K clusters on the surface. Our work not only gives a clear band assignment in MnBi2Te4, but also provides possible new routes in accentuating the topological behavior in the magnetic topological quantum materials.

References in corpus (6)

• Quantized Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulators
• Crystal growth and magnetic structure of MnBi2Te4
• Fermi Arcs in a Doped Pseudospin-1/2 Heisenberg Antiferromagnet
• A precise method for visualizing dispersive features in image plots
• Robust A-type order and spin-flop transition on the surface of the antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
• Coexistence of Surface Ferromagnetism and Gapless Topological State in MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Evolution of the electronic structure of ultrathin MnBi2Te4 Films
• Antiferromagnetic topological insulator with selectively gapped Dirac cones