Electrically Tunable Wafer-Sized Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator Thin Films Grown by Magnetron Sputtering

Three-dimensional(3 D) topological insulators(TIs) are candidate materials for various electronic and spintronic devices due to their strong spin-orbit coupling and unique surface electronic structure.Rapid,low-cost preparation of large-area TI thin films compatible with conventional semiconductor technology is the key to the practical applications of TIs.Here we show that wafer-sized Bi_2 Te_3 family TI and magnetic TI films with decent quality and well-controlled composition and properties can be prepared on amorphous SiO_2/Si substrates by magnetron cosputtering.The SiO_2/Si substrates enable us to electrically tune(Bi_(1-x)Sb_x)_2 Te_3 and Cr-doped(Bi_(1-x)Sb_x)_2 Te_3 TI films between p-type and n-type behavior and thus study the phenomena associated with topological surface states,such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect(QAHE).This work significantly facilitates the fabrication of TI-based devices for electronic and spintronic applications.     

Detection of Magnetic Gap in Topological Surface States of MnBi_2Te_4

Recently, intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi_2Te_4 has drawn intense research interest and leads to plenty of significant progress in physics and materials science by hosting quantum anomalous Hall effect, axion insulator state, and other quantum phases. An essential ingredient to realize these quantum states is the magnetic gap in the topological surface states induced by the out-of-plane ferromagnetism on the surface of MnBi_2Te_4.However, the experimental observations of the surface gap remain controversial. Here, we report the observation of the surface gap via the point contact tunneling spectroscopy. In agreement with theoretical calculations, the gap size is around 50 me V, which vanishes as the sample becomes paramagnetic with increasing temperature.The magnetoresistance hysteresis is detected through the point contact junction on the sample surface with an out-of-plane magnetic field, substantiating the surface ferromagnetism. Furthermore, the non-zero transport spin polarization coming from the ferromagnetism is determined by the point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy.Combining these results, the magnetism-induced gap in topological surface states of MnBi_2Te_4 is revealed.     

Quantum anomalous Hall effect and related topological electronic states

Over a long period of exploration, the successful observation of quantized version of anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in thin film of magnetically doped topological insulator (TI) completed a quantum Hall trio—quantum Hall effect (QHE), quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE), and quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE). On the theoretical front, it was understood that the intrinsic AHE is related to Berry curvature and U(1) gauge field in momentum space. This understanding established connection between the QAHE and the topological properties of electronic structures characterized by the Chern number. With the time-reversal symmetry (TRS) broken by magnetization, a QAHE system carries dissipationless charge current at edges, similar to the QHE where an external magnetic field is necessary. The QAHE and corresponding Chern insulators are also closely related to other topological electronic states, such as TIs and topological semimetals, which have been extensively studied recently and have been known to exist in various compounds. First-principles electronic structure calculations play important roles not only for the understanding of fundamental physics in this field, but also towards the prediction and realization of realistic compounds. In this article, a theoretical review on the Berry phase mechanism and related topological electronic states in terms of various topological invariants will be given with focus on the QAHE and Chern insulators. We will introduce the Wilson loop method and the band inversion mechanism for the selection and design of topological materials, and discuss the predictive power of first-principles calculations. Finally, remaining issues, challenges and possible applications for future investigations in the field will be addressed.     

二维有机拓扑绝缘体的研究进展

新材料的发现促进了科学与技术的进步.拓扑绝缘体是近期材料领域新的研究热点,相关研究的进一步深入,不仅加深了人们对材料物理性质的理解,也为其在自旋电子学和量子计算机等领域的潜在应用提供了有价值的参考.近年来,理论工作预测了一系列由金属和有机物构筑的二维有机拓扑绝缘体,本文主要介绍六角对称的金属有机晶格与Kagome金属有机晶格两类典型的二维有机拓扑绝缘体的研究进展,其中重点介绍了理论预测的氰基配位二维本征有机拓扑绝缘体.除了理论计算方面的工作,还简要介绍了关于二维有机拓扑绝缘体材料合成方面的实验工作.二维有机拓扑绝缘体的理论与实验研究不仅拓展了拓扑绝缘体的研究体系,还为寻找新的拓扑绝缘体材料提供了思路.     

Topological magnetic insulators with corundum structure

Topological insulators are new states of quantum matter in which surface states residing in the bulk insulating gap are protected by time-reversal symmetry. When a proper kind of antiferromagnetic long-range order is established in a topological insulator, the system supports axionic excitations. In this Letter, we study theoretically the electronic states in a transition metal oxide of corundum structure, in which both spin-orbit interaction and electron-electron interaction play crucial roles. A tight-binding model analysis predicts that materials with this structure can be strong topological insulators. Because of the electron correlation, an antiferromagnetic order may develop, giving rise to a topological magnetic insulator phase with axionic excitations.     

Torsional response and dissipationless viscosity in topological insulators

We consider the viscoelastic response of the electronic degrees of freedom in 2D and 3D topological insulators (TI's). Our primary focus is on the 2D Chern insulator which exhibits a bulk dissipationless viscosity analogous to the quantum Hall viscosity predicted in integer and fractional quantum Hall states. We show that the dissipationless viscosity is the response of a TI to torsional deformations of the underlying lattice geometry. The viscoelastic response also indicates that crystal dislocations in Chern insulators will carry momentum density. We briefly discuss generalizations to 3D which imply that time-reversal invariant TI's will exhibit a quantum Hall viscosity on their surfaces.     

Visualizing the in-Gap States in Domain Boundaries of Ultra-Thin Topological Insulator Films

Ultra-thin topological insulators provide a platform for realizing many exotic phenomena such as the quantum spin Hall effect, and quantum anomalous Hall effect. These effects or states are characterized by quantized transport behavior of edge states. Experimentally, although these states have been realized in various systems,the temperature for the edge states to be the dominating channel in transport is extremely low, contrary to the fact that the bulk gap is usually in the order of a few tens of milli-electron volts. There must be other in-gap conduction channels that do not freeze out until a much lower temperature. Here we grow ultra-thin topological insulator Bi_2Te_3 and Sb_2Te_3 films by molecular beam epitaxy and investigate the structures of domain boundaries in these films. By scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy we find that the domain boundaries with large rotation angles have pronounced in-gap bound states, through which one-dimensional conduction channels are suggested to form, as visualized by spatially resolved spectroscopy. Our work indicates the critical role played by domain boundaries in degrading the transport properties.     

Transport properties of doped Bi_2Se_3 and Bi_2Te_3 topological insulators and heterostructures

In this review article, the recent experimental and theoretical research progress in Bi_2Se_3-and Bi_2Te_3-based topological insulators is presented, with a focus on the transport properties and modulation of the transport properties by doping with nonmagnetic and magnetic elements. The electrical transport properties are discussed for a few different types of topological insulator heterostructures, such as heterostructures formed by Bi_2Se_3-and Bi_2Te_3-based binary/ternary/quaternary compounds and superconductors, nonmagnetic and magnetic metals, or semiconductors.     

Pressure-Induced Topological and Structural Phase Transitions in an Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator

Recently,natural van der Waals heterostructures of(MnBi_2 Te_4)_m(Bi_2 Te_3)_n have been theoretically predicted and experimentally shown to host tunable magnetic properties and topologically nontrivial surface states.We systematically investigate both the structural and electronic responses of MnBi_2 Te_4 and MnBi_4 Te_7 to external pressure.In addition to the suppression of antiferromagnetic order,MnBi_2 Te_4 is found to undergo a metalsemiconductor-metal transition upon compression.The resistivity of MnBi_4 Te_7 changes dramatically under high pressure and a non-monotonic evolution of p(T) is observed.The nontrivial topology is proved to persist before the structural phase transition observed in the high-pressure regime.We find that the bulk and surface states respond differently to pressure,which is consistent with the non-monotonic change of the resistivity.Interestingly,a pressure-induced amorphous state is observed in MnBi_2 Te_4,while two high-pressure phase transitions are revealed in MnBi_4 Te_7.Our combined theoretical and experimental research establishes MnBi_2 Te_4 and MnBi_4 Te_7 as highly tunable magnetic topological insulators,in which phase transitions and new ground states emerge upon compression.     

Two-dimensional topological insulator state and topological phase transition in bilayer graphene

We show that gated bilayer graphene hosts a strong topological insulator (TI) phase in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling. We find that gated bilayer graphene under preserved time-reversal symmetry is a quantum valley Hall insulator for small Rashba SO coupling λ(R), and transitions to a strong TI when λ(R)>√[U(2)+t(⊥)(2)], where U and t(⊥) are, respectively, the interlayer potential and tunneling energy. Different from a conventional quantum spin Hall state, the edge modes of our strong TI phase exhibit both spin and valley filtering, and thus share the properties of both quantum spin Hall and quantum valley Hall insulators. The strong TI phase remains robust in the presence of weak graphene intrinsic SO coupling.     

Tunable topological quantum states in three- and two-dimensional materials

We review our theoretical advances in tunable topological quantum states in three- and twodimensional materials with strong spin–orbital couplings. In three-dimensional systems, we propose a new tunable topological insulator, bismuth-based skutterudites in which topological insulating states can be induced by external strains. The orbitals involved in the topological band-inversion process are the d- and p-orbitals, unlike typical topological insulators such as Bi₂Se₃and BiTeI, where only the p-orbitals are involved in the band-inversion process. Owing to the presence of large d-electronic states, the electronic interaction in our proposed topological insulator is much stronger than that in other conventional topological insulators. In two-dimensional systems, we investigated 3d-transition-metal-doped silicene. Using both an analytical model and first-principles Wannier interpolation, we demonstrate that silicene decorated with certain 3d transition metals such as vanadium can sustain a stable quantum anomalous Hall effect. We also predict that the quantum valley Hall effect and electrically tunable topological states could be realized in certain transition-metal-doped silicenes where the energy band inversion occurs. These findings provide realistic materials in which topological states could be arbitrarily controlled.     

Topological response theory of doped topological insulators

We generalize the topological response theory of three-dimensional topological insulators (TI) to metallic systems-specifically, doped TI with finite bulk carrier density and a time-reversal symmetry breaking field near the surface. We show that there is an inhomogeneity-induced Berry phase contribution to the surface Hall conductivity that is completely determined by the occupied states and is independent of other details such as band dispersion and impurities. In the limit of zero bulk carrier density, this intrinsic surface Hall conductivity reduces to the half-integer quantized surface Hall conductivity of TI. Based on our theory we predict the behavior of the surface Hall conductivity for a doped topological insulator with a top gate, which can be directly compared with experiments.     

Quantum Anomalous Hall Multilayers Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Quantum anomalous Hall(QAH) effect is a quantum Hall effect that occurs without the need of external magnetic field. A system composed of multiple parallel QAH layers is an effective high Chern number QAH insulator and the key to the applications of the dissipationless chiral edge channels in low energy consumption electronics. Such a QAH multilayer can also be engineered into other exotic topological phases such as a magnetic Weyl semimetal with only one pair of Weyl points. This work reports the first experimental realization of QAH multilayers in the superlattices composed of magnetically doped(Bi,Sb)_2Te_3 topological insulator and Cd Se normal insulator layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The obtained multilayer samples show quantized Hall resistance h/N_e~2, where h is Planck's constant, e is the elementary charge and N is the number of the magnetic topological insulator layers, resembling a high Chern number QAH insulator. The QAH multilayers provide an excellent platform to study various topological states of matter.     

Electronic properties of SnTe-class topological crystalline insulator materials

The rise of topological insulators in recent years has broken new ground both in the conceptual cognition of condensed matter physics and the promising revolution of the electronic devices.It also stimulates the explorations of more topological states of matter.Topological crystalline insulator is a new topological phase,which combines the electronic topology and crystal symmetry together.In this article,we review the recent progress in the studies of SnTe-class topological crystalline insulator materials.Starting from the topological identifications in the aspects of the bulk topology,surface states calculations,and experimental observations,we present the electronic properties of topological crystalline insulators under various perturbations,including native defect,chemical doping,strain,and thickness-dependent confinement effects,and then discuss their unique quantum transport properties,such as valley-selective filtering and helicity-resolved functionalities for Dirac fermions.The rich properties and high tunability make SnTe-class materials promising candidates for novel quantum devices.     

AlO_x/LiF composite protection layer for Cr-doped(Bi,Sb)_2Te_3 quantum anomalous Hall films

We have realized robust quantum anomalous Hall samples by protecting Cr-doped(Bi,Sb)_2Te_3 topological insulator films with a combination of LiF and A1O_x capping layers.The AlO_x/LiF composite capping layer well keeps the quantum anomalous Hall states of Cr-doped(Bi,Sb)_2Te_3 films and effectively prevent them from degradation induced by ambient conditions.The progress is a key step towards the realization of the quantum phenomena in heterostructures and devices based on quantum anomalous Hall system.     

Modification of the Hybridization Gap by Twisted Stacking of Quintuple Layers in a Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator Thin Film

Twisting the stacking of layered materials leads to rich new physics. A three-dimensional topological insulator film hosts two-dimensional gapless Dirac electrons on top and bottom surfaces, which, when the film is below some critical thickness, will hybridize and open a gap in the surface state structure. The hybridization gap can be tuned by various parameters such as film thickness and inversion symmetry, according to the literature. The three-dimensional strong topological insulator Bi(Sb)Se(Te) family has layered structures composed of quintuple layers(QLs) stacked together by van der Waals interaction. Here we successfully grow twistedly stacked Sb_2Te_3 QLs and investigate the effect of twist angels on the hybridization gaps below the thickness limit. It is found that the hybridization gap can be tuned for films of three QLs, which may lead to quantum spin Hall states.Signatures of gap-closing are found in 3-QL films. The successful in situ application of this approach opens a new route to search for exotic physics in topological insulators.     

Superconducting quantum interference devices made of Sb-doped Bi2Se3 topological insulator nanoribbons

We report the fabrication and characterization of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) made of Sb-doped Bi₂Se₃ topological insulator (TI) nanoribbon (NR) contacted with PbIn superconducting electrodes. When an external magnetic field was applied along the NR axis, the TI NR exhibited periodic magneto-conductance oscillations, the so-called Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, owing to one-dimensional subbands. Below the superconducting transition temperature of PbIn electrodes, we observed supercurrent flow through TI NR-based SQUID. The critical current periodically modulates with a magnetic field perpendicular to the SQUID loop, revealing that the periodicity corresponds to the superconducting flux quantum. Our experimental observations can be useful to explore Majorana bound states (MBS) in TI NR, promising for developing topological quantum information devices.     

Intrinsic magnetic topological materials

Topological states of matter possess bulk electronic structures categorized by topological invariants and edge/surface states due to the bulk-boundary correspondence. Topological materials hold great potential in the development of dissipationless spintronics, information storage and quantum computation, particularly if combined with magnetic order intrinsically or extrinsically. Here, we review the recent progress in the exploration of intrinsic magnetic topological materials, including but not limited to magnetic topological insulators, magnetic topological metals, and magnetic Weyl semimetals. We pay special attention to their characteristic band features such as the gap of topological surface state, gapped Dirac cone induced by magnetization (either bulk or surface), Weyl nodal point/line and Fermi arc, as well as the exotic transport responses resulting from such band features. We conclude with a brief envision for experimental explorations of new physics or effects by incorporating other orders in intrinsic magnetic topological materials.