Theory of the microwave impedance microscopy of Chern insulators

Abstract

Microwave impedance microscopy (MIM) has been utilized to directly visualize topological edge states in many quantum materials, from quantum Hall systems to topological insulators, across the GHz regime. While the microwave response for conventional metals and insulators can be accurately quantified using simple lumped-element circuits, the applicability of these classical models to more exotic quantum systems remains limited. In this work, we present a general theoretical framework of the MIM response of arbitrary quantum materials within linear response theory. As a special case, we model the microwave response of topological edge states in a Chern insulator and predict an enhanced MIM response at the crystal boundaries due to collective edge magnetoplasmon (EMP) excitations. The resonance frequency of these plasmonic modes should depend quantitatively on the topological invariant of the Chern insulator state and on the sample's circumference, which highlights their non-local, topological nature. To benchmark our analytical predictions, we experimentally probe the MIM response of quantum anomalous Hall edge states in a Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 topological insulator and perform numerical simulations using a classical formulation of the EMP modes based on this realistic tip-sample geometry, both of which yield results consistent with our theoretical picture. We also show how the technique of MIM can be used to quantitatively extract the topological invariant of a Chern insulator, disentangle the signatures of topological versus trivial edge states, and shed light on the microscopic nature of dissipation along the crystal boundaries.

8 pages, 4 figures

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• Thirty Years of Composite Fermions and Beyond
• Wavefunctionology: The Special Structure of Certain Fractional Quantum Hall Wavefunctions
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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Local probe of bulk and edge states in a fractional Chern insulator
• Drift velocity of edge magnetoplasmons due to magnetic edge channels
• Optical conductivity of the Majorana mode at the s- and d-wave topological superconductor edge
• Incipient quantum spin Hall insulator under strong correlations
• Angular momentum of vortex-core Majorana zero modes
• Chiral edge plasmons in quantum anomalous Hall insulators
• Microwave Imaging of Edge Conductivity in Graphene at Charge Neutrality and Quantum Hall States