Concurrence of quantum anomalous Hall and topological Hall effects in magnetic topological insulator sandwich heterostructures

Jue Jiang, Di Xiao, Fei Wang, Jae Ho Shin, Domenico Andreoli, Jianxiao Zhang, Run Xiao, Yi Fan Zhao, Morteza Kayyalha, Ling Zhang, Ke Wang, Jiadong Zang, Chaoxing Liu, Nitin Samarth, Moses H.W. Chan, Cui Zu Chang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is a consequence of non-zero Berry curvature in momentum space. The QAH insulator harbours dissipation-free chiral edge states in the absence of an external magnetic field. However, the topological Hall (TH) effect, a hallmark of chiral spin textures, is a consequence of real-space Berry curvature. Here, by inserting a topological insulator (TI) layer between two magnetic TI layers, we realized the concurrence of the TH effect and the QAH effect through electric-field gating. The TH effect is probed by bulk carriers, whereas the QAH effect is characterized by chiral edge states. The appearance of the TH effect in the QAH insulating regime is a consequence of chiral magnetic domain walls that result from the gate-induced Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and occurs during the magnetization reversal process in the magnetic TI sandwich samples. The coexistence of chiral edge states and chiral spin textures provides a platform for proof-of-concept dissipationless spin-textured spintronic applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)732-737
Number of pages6
JournalNature Materials
Volume19
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2020

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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