中国物理B ›› 2013, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (6): 67305-067305.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/22/6/067305

所属专题: TOPICAL REVIEW — Topological insulator

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From magnetically doped topological insulator to the quantum anomalous Hall effect

何珂a, 马旭村a, 陈曦b, 吕力a, 王亚愚b, 薛其坤b   

  1. a Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    b State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • 收稿日期:2013-05-16 出版日期:2013-05-01 发布日期:2013-05-01
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11174343 and 11134008), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2013CB921702 and 2009CB929400), and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

From magnetically doped topological insulator to the quantum anomalous Hall effect

He Ke (何珂)a, Ma Xu-Cun (马旭村)a, Chen Xi (陈曦)b, Lü Li(吕力)a, Wang Ya-Yu (王亚愚)b, Xue Qi-Kun (薛其坤)b   

  1. a Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    b State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • Received:2013-05-16 Online:2013-05-01 Published:2013-05-01
  • Contact: Wang Ya-Yu, Xue Qi-Kun E-mail:kehe@iphy.ac.cn; yayuwang@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn; qkxue@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11174343 and 11134008), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2013CB921702 and 2009CB929400), and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

摘要: Quantum Hall effect (QHE), as a class of quantum phenomena that occur in macroscopic scale, is one of the most important topics in condensed matter physics. It has long been expected that QHE may occur without Landau levels so that neither external magnetic field nor high sample mobility is required for its study and application. Such a QHE free of Landau levels, can appear in topological insulators (TIs) with ferromagnetism as the quantized version of the anomalous Hall effect, i.e., quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect. Here we review our recent work on experimental realization of the QAH effect in magnetically doped TIs. With molecular beam epitaxy, we prepare thin films of Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 TIs with wellcontrolled chemical potential and long-range ferromagnetic order that can survive the insulating phase. In such thin films, we eventually observed the quantization of the Hall resistance at h/e2 at zero field, accompanied by a considerable drop in the longitudinal resistance. Under a strong magnetic field, the longitudinal resistance vanishes, whereas the Hall resistance remains at the quantized value. The realization of the QAH effect provides a foundation for many other novel quantum phenomena predicted in TIs, and opens a route to practical applications of quantum Hall physics in low-power-consumption electronics.

关键词: topological insulator, quantum anomalous Hall effect, quantum Hall effect, ferromagnetic insulator, molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract: Quantum Hall effect (QHE), as a class of quantum phenomena that occur in macroscopic scale, is one of the most important topics in condensed matter physics. It has long been expected that QHE may occur without Landau levels so that neither external magnetic field nor high sample mobility is required for its study and application. Such a QHE free of Landau levels, can appear in topological insulators (TIs) with ferromagnetism as the quantized version of the anomalous Hall effect, i.e., quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect. Here we review our recent work on experimental realization of the QAH effect in magnetically doped TIs. With molecular beam epitaxy, we prepare thin films of Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 TIs with wellcontrolled chemical potential and long-range ferromagnetic order that can survive the insulating phase. In such thin films, we eventually observed the quantization of the Hall resistance at h/e2 at zero field, accompanied by a considerable drop in the longitudinal resistance. Under a strong magnetic field, the longitudinal resistance vanishes, whereas the Hall resistance remains at the quantized value. The realization of the QAH effect provides a foundation for many other novel quantum phenomena predicted in TIs, and opens a route to practical applications of quantum Hall physics in low-power-consumption electronics.

Key words: topological insulator, quantum anomalous Hall effect, quantum Hall effect, ferromagnetic insulator, molecular beam epitaxy

中图分类号:  (Quantum wells)

  • 73.21.Fg
73.43.-f (Quantum Hall effects) 75.50.Pp (Magnetic semiconductors) 75.70.-i (Magnetic properties of thin films, surfaces, and interfaces)