Spectral signatures of the surface anomalous Hall effect in magnetic axion insulators

Mingqiang Gu, Jiayu Li, Hongyi Sun, Yufei Zhao, Chang Liu, Jianpeng Liu (), Haizhou Lu and Qihang Liu ()
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Mingqiang Gu: Southern University of Science and Technology
Jiayu Li: Southern University of Science and Technology
Hongyi Sun: Southern University of Science and Technology
Yufei Zhao: Southern University of Science and Technology
Chang Liu: Southern University of Science and Technology
Jianpeng Liu: ShanghaiTech University
Haizhou Lu: Southern University of Science and Technology
Qihang Liu: Southern University of Science and Technology

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The topological surface states of magnetic topological systems, such as Weyl semimetals and axion insulators, are associated with unconventional transport properties such as nonzero or half-quantized surface anomalous Hall effect. Here we study the surface anomalous Hall effect and its spectral signatures in different magnetic topological phases using both model Hamiltonian and first-principles calculations. We demonstrate that by tailoring the magnetization and interlayer electron hopping, a rich three-dimensional topological phase diagram can be established, including three types of topologically distinct insulating phases bridged by Weyl semimetals, and can be directly mapped to realistic materials such as MnBi2Te4/(Bi2Te3)n systems. Among them, we find that the surface anomalous Hall conductivity in the axion-insulator phase is a well-localized quantity either saturated at or oscillating around e2/2h, depending on the magnetic homogeneity. We also discuss the resultant chiral hinge modes embedded inside the side surface bands as the potential experimental signatures for transport measurements. Our study is a significant step forward towards the direct realization of the long-sought axion insulators in realistic material systems.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23844-z

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