Magnetic-field-induced robust zero Hall plateau state in MnBi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>4</sub> Chern insulator.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 34330926.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-25002-x and PMC identifier 8324822.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 provides an ideal platform for exploring exotic topological quantum phenomena. Recently, the Chern insulator and axion insulator phases have been realized in few-layer MnBi2Te4 devices at low magnetic field regime. However, the fate of MnBi2Te4 in high magnetic field has never been explored in experiment. In this work, we report transport studies of exfoliated MnBi2Te4 flakes in pulsed magnetic fields up to 61.5 T. In the high-field limit, the Chern insulator phase with Chern number C = -1 evolves into a robust zero Hall resistance plateau state. Nonlocal transport measurements and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the charge transport in the zero Hall plateau state is conducted by two counter-propagating edge states that arise from the combined effects of Landau levels and large Zeeman effect in strong magnetic fields. Our result demonstrates the intricate interplay among intrinsic magnetic order, external magnetic field, and nontrivial band topology in MnBi2Te4.