Simple model for the gap in the surface states of the antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Akzyanov, R. S., Rakhmanov, A. L.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Akzyanov, R. S.
Rakhmanov, A. L.
author_facet Akzyanov, R. S.
Rakhmanov, A. L.
contents We study the influence of the antiferromagnetic order on the surface states of topological insulators. We derive an effective Hamiltonian for these states, taking into account the spatial structure of the antiferromagnetic order. We obtain a typical (gapless) Dirac Hamiltonian for the surface states when the surface of the sample is not perturbed. Gapless spectrum is protected by the combination of time-reversal and half-translation symmetries. However, a shift in the chemical potential of the surface layer opens a gap in the spectrum away from the Fermi energy. Such a gap occurs only in systems with finite antiferromagnetic order. We observe that the system topology remains unchanged even for large values of the disorder. We calculate the spectrum using the tight-binding model with different boundary conditions. In this case we get a gap in the spectrum of the surface states. This discrepancy arises due to the violation of the combined time-reversal symmetry. We compare our results with experiments and density functional theory calculations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_11216
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Simple model for the gap in the surface states of the antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$
Akzyanov, R. S.
Rakhmanov, A. L.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
We study the influence of the antiferromagnetic order on the surface states of topological insulators. We derive an effective Hamiltonian for these states, taking into account the spatial structure of the antiferromagnetic order. We obtain a typical (gapless) Dirac Hamiltonian for the surface states when the surface of the sample is not perturbed. Gapless spectrum is protected by the combination of time-reversal and half-translation symmetries. However, a shift in the chemical potential of the surface layer opens a gap in the spectrum away from the Fermi energy. Such a gap occurs only in systems with finite antiferromagnetic order. We observe that the system topology remains unchanged even for large values of the disorder. We calculate the spectrum using the tight-binding model with different boundary conditions. In this case we get a gap in the spectrum of the surface states. This discrepancy arises due to the violation of the combined time-reversal symmetry. We compare our results with experiments and density functional theory calculations.
title Simple model for the gap in the surface states of the antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.11216