Chiral edge transport along domain walls in magnetic topological insulator nanoribbons

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Pournaghavi, Nezhat, Canali, Carlo M.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866913491831488512
author Pournaghavi, Nezhat
Canali, Carlo M.
author_facet Pournaghavi, Nezhat
Canali, Carlo M.
contents Quantum anomalous Hall insulators are topologically characterized by non-zero integer Chern numbers, the sign of which depends on the direction of the exchange field that breaks time-reversal symmetry. This feature allows the manipulation of the conducting chiral edge states present at the interface of two magnetic domains with opposite magnetization and opposite Chern numbers. Motivated by this broad understanding, the present study investigates the quantum transport properties of a magnetized $Bi_2Se_3$ topological insulator nanoribbon with a domain wall oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the transport direction. Employing an atomistic tight-binding model and a non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, we calculate the quantum conductance and explore the nature of the edge states. We elucidate the conditions leading to exact conductance quantization and identify the origin of deviations from this behavior. Our analysis shows that although the conductance is quantized in the presence of the horizontal domain wall, the quantization is absent in the perpendicular domain wall case. Furthermore, the investigation of the spin character of the edge modes confirms that the conductance in the horizontal domain wall configuration is spin polarized. This finding underscores the potential of our system as a simple three dimensional spin-filter device.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_08258
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Chiral edge transport along domain walls in magnetic topological insulator nanoribbons
Pournaghavi, Nezhat
Canali, Carlo M.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
Quantum anomalous Hall insulators are topologically characterized by non-zero integer Chern numbers, the sign of which depends on the direction of the exchange field that breaks time-reversal symmetry. This feature allows the manipulation of the conducting chiral edge states present at the interface of two magnetic domains with opposite magnetization and opposite Chern numbers. Motivated by this broad understanding, the present study investigates the quantum transport properties of a magnetized $Bi_2Se_3$ topological insulator nanoribbon with a domain wall oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the transport direction. Employing an atomistic tight-binding model and a non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, we calculate the quantum conductance and explore the nature of the edge states. We elucidate the conditions leading to exact conductance quantization and identify the origin of deviations from this behavior. Our analysis shows that although the conductance is quantized in the presence of the horizontal domain wall, the quantization is absent in the perpendicular domain wall case. Furthermore, the investigation of the spin character of the edge modes confirms that the conductance in the horizontal domain wall configuration is spin polarized. This finding underscores the potential of our system as a simple three dimensional spin-filter device.
title Chiral edge transport along domain walls in magnetic topological insulator nanoribbons
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.08258