Quantized Magneto-Terahertz Effects in the Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ Thin Films

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Han, Xingyue, Chen, An-Hsi, Brahlek, Matthew, Wu, Liang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908274119409664
author Han, Xingyue
Chen, An-Hsi
Brahlek, Matthew
Wu, Liang
author_facet Han, Xingyue
Chen, An-Hsi
Brahlek, Matthew
Wu, Liang
contents MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ (MBT) is an ideal platform for studying the interplay between magnetism and topology. Many exotic topological phenomena, such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect and the axion insulator, have been observed in few-layer MBT. A key feature in MBT is the emergence of the surface exchange gap, which lies in the milli-electron-volt range (1 THz corresponds to 4.14 meV). This makes THz spectroscopy a powerful tool to probe the associated topological physics. In this study, we report the THz spectra of Faraday and Kerr rotations in MBT thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. By varying the external magnetic field, we observe three magnetic states: the antiferromagnetic state, the canted antiferromagnetic state, and the ferromagnetic state. Our terahertz results show a quantized Hall state under 6 T in both 6 SL and 7 SL samples without gate voltage. These findings provide new insights into the magneto-terahertz properties of MBT and its potential for topological spintronic applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_13651
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantized Magneto-Terahertz Effects in the Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ Thin Films
Han, Xingyue
Chen, An-Hsi
Brahlek, Matthew
Wu, Liang
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ (MBT) is an ideal platform for studying the interplay between magnetism and topology. Many exotic topological phenomena, such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect and the axion insulator, have been observed in few-layer MBT. A key feature in MBT is the emergence of the surface exchange gap, which lies in the milli-electron-volt range (1 THz corresponds to 4.14 meV). This makes THz spectroscopy a powerful tool to probe the associated topological physics. In this study, we report the THz spectra of Faraday and Kerr rotations in MBT thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. By varying the external magnetic field, we observe three magnetic states: the antiferromagnetic state, the canted antiferromagnetic state, and the ferromagnetic state. Our terahertz results show a quantized Hall state under 6 T in both 6 SL and 7 SL samples without gate voltage. These findings provide new insights into the magneto-terahertz properties of MBT and its potential for topological spintronic applications.
title Quantized Magneto-Terahertz Effects in the Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ Thin Films
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.13651