Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect with Higher Plateaus

ORAL

Abstract

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect in magnetic topological insulators is driven by the combination of spontaneous magnetic moments and spin-orbit coupling. Its recent experimental discovery raises the question if higher plateaus can also be realized. Here, we present a general theory for a QAH effect with higher Chern numbers and show by first-principles calculations that a thin film magnetic topological insulator of Cr-doped Bi2(Se,Te)3 is a candidate for the C$=$ 2 QAH insulator. Remarkably, whereas a higher magnetic field leads to lower Hall conductance plateaus in the integer quantum Hall effect, a higher magnetic moment leads to higher Hall conductance plateaus in the QAH effect.

*This work is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, under contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

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Authors

  • Jing Wang

    • Department of Physics, Stanford University, CA 94305-4045, USA
    • Department of Physics, Stanford University

  • Biao Lian

    • Department of Physics, Stanford University, CA 94305-4045, USA

  • Haijun Zhang

    • Department of Physics, Stanford University, CA 94305-4045, USA

  • Yong Xu

    • Department of Physics, Stanford University, CA 94305-4045, USA

  • Shou-Cheng Zhang

    • Department of Physics, Stanford University, CA 94305-4045, USA