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Register a new userTunable dynamical magnetoelectric effect in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ films
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More than forty years ago, axion was postulated as an elementary particle with a low mass and weak interaction in particle physics to solve the strong $mathcal{CP}$ (charge conjugation and parity) puzzle. Axions are also considered as a possible component of dark matter of the universe. However, the existence of axions in nature has not been confirmed. Interestingly, axions arise as pseudoscalar fields derived from the Chern-Simons theory in condensed matter physics. In antiferromagnetic insulators, the axion field can become dynamical induced by spin-wave excitations and exhibits rich exotic phenomena, such as, the chiral magnetic effect, axionic polariton and so on. However, the study of the dynamical axion field is rare due to the lack of real materials. Recently, MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ was discovered to be an antiferromagnetic topological insulator with a quantized axion field protected by the inversion symmetry $mathcal{P}$ and the magnetic-crystalline symmetry $mathcal{S}$. Here, we studied MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ films in which both the $mathcal{P}$ and $mathcal{S}$ symmetries are spontaneously broken and found that the dynamical axion field and largely tunable dynamical magnetoelectric effects can be realized through tuning the thickness of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ films, the temperature and the element substitution. Our results open a broad avenue to study axion dynamics in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and related materials, and also is hopeful to promote the research of dark matter.
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Topological states of quantum matter have attracted great attention in condensed matter physics and materials science. The study of time-reversal-invariant (TRI) topological states in quantum materials has made tremendous progress in both theories and experiments. As a great success, thousands of TRI topological materials are predicted through sweeping search. Richer exotic phenomena are expected to appear in magnetic topological materials because of varied magnetic configurations, but this study falls much behind due to the complex magnetic structures and transitions. Here, we predict the tetradymite-type compound MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and its related materials host interesting magnetic topological states. The magnetic ground state of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ is an antiferromagnetic phase which leads to an antiferromagetic topological insulator state with a large topologically non-trivial energy gap ($sim$0.2~eV). It is the parent state for the axion state, which has gapped bulk and surface states, and quantized topological magnetoelectric effect. The ferromagnetic phase of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ leads to an ideal minimal type-II Weyl semimetal with two Weyl points accompanied by one hole-type and one electron-type Fermi pocket at the Fermi level, which has never been discovered elsewhere. We further present a simple and unified continuum model to capture the salient topological features of this kind of materials.
The recent discovery of antiferromagnetic (AFM) topological insulator (TI) MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ has triggered great research efforts on exploring novel magnetic topological physics. Based on first-principles calculations, we find that the manipulation of magnetic orientation and order not only significantly affects material symmetries and orbital hybridizations, but also results in variant new magnetic topological phases in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$. We thus predict a series of unusual topological quantum phase transitions that are magnetically controllable in the material, including phase transitions from AFM TI to AFM mirror topological crystalline insulator, from type-II to type-I topological Weyl semimetal, and from axion insulator to Chern insulator. The findings open new opportunities for future research and applications of magnetic topological materials.
Using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we visualized the native defects in antiferromagnetic topological insulator $mathrm{MnBi_2Te_4}$. Two native defects $mathrm{Mn_{Bi}}$ and $mathrm{Bi_{Te}}$ antisites can be well resolved in the topographic images. $mathrm{Mn_{Bi}}$ tend to suppress the density of states at conduction band edge. Spectroscopy imaging reveals a localized peak-like local density of state at $sim80$~meV below the Fermi energy. A careful inspection of topographic and spectroscopic images, combined with density functional theory calculation, suggests this results from $mathrm{Bi_{Mn}}$ antisites at Mn sites. The random distribution of $mathrm{Mn_{Bi}}$ and $mathrm{Bi_{Mn}}$ antisites results in spatial fluctuation of local density of states near the Fermi level in $mathrm{MnBi_2Te_4}$.
Recently, the intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ has attracted great attention. It has an out-of-plane antiferromagnetic order, which is believed to open a sizable energy gap in the surface states. This gap, however, was not always observable in the latest angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments. To address this issue, we analytically derive an effective model for the two-dimensional (2D) surface states by starting from a three-dimensional (3D) Hamiltonian for bulk MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and taking into account the spatial profile of the bulk magnetization. Our calculations suggest that the diminished surface gap may be caused by a much smaller and more localized intralayer ferromagnetic order. In addition, we calculate the spatial distribution and penetration depth of the surface states, which indicates that the surface states are mainly embedded in the first two septuple layers from the terminating surface. From our analytical results, the influence of the bulk parameters on the surface states can be found explicitly. Furthermore, we derive a $bf{k}cdot bf{p}$ model for MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ thin films and show the oscillation of the Chern number between odd and even septuple layers. Our results will be helpful for the ongoing explorations of the MnBi$_x$Te$_y$ family.
Despite the rapid progress in understanding the first intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, its electronic structure remains a topic under debates. Here we perform a thorough spectroscopic investigation into the electronic structure of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ via laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Through quantitative analysis, we estimate an upper bound of 3 meV for the gap size of the topological surface state. Furthermore, our circular dichroism measurements reveal band chiralities for both the topological surface state and quasi-2D bands, which can be well reproduced in a band hybridization model. A numerical simulation of energy-momentum dispersions based on a four-band model with an additional step potential near the surface provides a promising explanation for the origin of the quasi-2D bands. Our study represents a solid step forward in reconciling the existing controversies in the electronic structure of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, and provides an important framework to understand the electronic structures of other relevant topological materials MnBi$_{2n}$Te$_{3n+1}$.
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