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We report on the scaling behavior of V-doped (Bi,Sb)$_2$Te$_3$ samples in the quantum anomalous Hall regime for samples of various thickness. While previous quantum anomalous Hall measurements showed the same scaling as expected from a two-dimensional integer quantum Hall state, we observe a dimensional crossover to three spatial dimensions as a function of layer thickness. In the limit of a sufficiently thick layer, we find scaling behavior matching the flow diagram of two parallel conducting topological surface states of a three-dimensional topological insulator each featuring a fractional shift of $frac{1}{2} e^2/h$ in the flow diagram Hall conductivity, while we recover the expected integer quantum Hall behavior for thinner layers. This constitutes the observation of a distinct type of quantum anomalous Hall effect, resulting from $frac{1}{2} e^2/h$ Hall conductance quantization of three-dimensional topological insulator surface states, in an experiment which does not require decomposition of signal to separate the contribution of two surfaces. This provides a possible experimental link between quantum Hall physics and axion electrodynamics.
The phase transitions from one plateau to the next plateau or to an insulator in quantum Hall and quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) systems have revealed universal scaling behaviors. A magnetic-field-driven quantum phase transition from a QAH insulator to an axion insulator was recently demonstrated in magnetic topological insulator sandwich samples. Here, we show that the temperature dependence of the derivative of the longitudinal resistance on magnetic field at the transition point follows a characteristic power-law that indicates a universal scaling behavior for the QAH to axion insulator phase transition. Similar to the quantum Hall plateau to plateau transition, the QAH to axion insulator transition can also be understood by the Chalker-Coddington network model. We extract a critical exponent k~ 0.38 in agreement with recent high-precision numerical results on the correlation length exponent of the Chalker-Coddington model at v ~ 2.6, rather than the generally-accepted value of 2.33.
We derive a general scaling relation for the anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic metals involving multiple competing scattering mechanisms, described by a quadratic hypersurface in the space spanned by the partial resistivities. We also present experimental findings, which show strong deviation from previously found scaling forms when different scattering mechanism compete in strength but can be nicely explained by our theory.
Varying the quantum-well width in an HgTe/CdTe heterostructure allows to realize normal and inverted semiconducting band structures, making it a prototypical system to study two-dimensional (2D) topological-insulator behavior. We have calculated the zero-temperature thermodynamic density of states $D_mathrm{T}$ for the electron-doped situation in both regimes, treating interactions within the Hartree-Fock approximation. A distinctively different behavior for the density dependence of $D_mathrm{T}$ is revealed in the inverted and normal cases, making it possible to detect the systems topological order through measurement of macroscopic observables such as the quantum capacitance or electronic compressibility. Our results establish the 2D electron system in HgTe quantum wells as unique in terms of its collective electronic properties.
We present magnetotransport studies performed on an extended set of (Ga,Mn)As samples at 4.2 K with longitudinal conductivities sigma_{xx} ranging from the low- to the high-conductivity regime. The anomalous Hall conductivity sigma_{xy}^(AH) is extracted from the measured longitudinal and Hall resistivities. A transition from sigma_{xy}^(AH)=20 Omega^{-1}cm^{-1} due to the Berry phase effect in the high-conductivity regime to a scaling relation sigma_{xy}^(AH) proportional to sigma_{xx}^{1.6} for low-conductivity samples is observed. This scaling relation is consistent with a recently developed unified theory of the anomalous Hall effect in the framework of the Keldysh formalism. It turns out to be independent of crystallographic orientation, growth conditions, Mn concentration, and strain, and can therefore be considered universal for low-conductivity (Ga,Mn)As. The relation plays a crucial role when deriving values of the hole concentration from magnetotransport measurements in low-conductivity (Ga,Mn)As. In addition, the hole diffusion constants for the high-conductivity samples are determined from the measured longitudinal conductivities.
We study the Casimir effect in axion electrodynamics. A finite $theta$-term affects the energy dispersion relation of photon if $theta$ is time and/or space dependent. We focus on a special case with linearly inhomogeneous $theta$ along the $z$-axis. Then we demonstrate that the Casimir force between two parallel plates perpendicular to the $z$-axis can be either attractive or repulsive, dependent on the gradient of $theta$. We call this repulsive component in the Casimir force induced by inhomogeneous $theta$ the anomalous Casimir effect.