Spinful hinge states in the higher-order topological insulators WTe₂.

Abstract

Higher-order topological insulators are recently discovered quantum materials exhibiting distinct topological phases with the generalized bulk-boundary correspondence. T_d-WTe₂ is a promising candidate to reveal topological hinge excitation in an atomically thin regime. However, with initial theories and experiments focusing on localized one-dimensional conductance only, no experimental reports exist on how the spin orientations are distributed over the helical hinges-this is critical, yet one missing puzzle. Here, we employ the magneto-optic Kerr effect to visualize the spinful characteristics of the hinge states in a few-layer T_d-WTe₂. By examining the spin polarization of electrons injected from WTe₂ to graphene under external electric and magnetic fields, we conclude that WTe₂ hosts a spinful and helical topological hinge state protected by the time-reversal symmetry. Our experiment provides a fertile diagnosis to investigate the topologically protected gapless hinge states, and may call for new theoretical studies to extend the previous spinless model.