Spin-orbit torque switching of Néel order in band-inverted antiferromagnetic bilayer MnBi$_2$Te$_4$

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Islam, Rajibul, Ahmad, Shakeel, Xue, Fei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911624467578880
author Islam, Rajibul
Ahmad, Shakeel
Xue, Fei
author_facet Islam, Rajibul
Ahmad, Shakeel
Xue, Fei
contents Magnetic topological insulators host exotic phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect and quantized magnetoelectric responses, but dynamic electrical control of their topological phases remains elusive. Here we demonstrate from first principles that spin-orbit torque enables direct electrical switching of the Néel configuration in intrinsic antiferromagnetic bilayer MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, thereby reconfiguring its boundary spectrum. A symmetry-allowed interband (time-reversal even) torque persists inside the bulk gap, and deterministically reverses the Néel order and layer-resolved Chern marker without free carriers. Upon doping, both interband and intraband torques are amplified, lowering the critical electric field for switching by two orders of magnitude. Together, these results establish two complementary regimes of control: dissipationless in-gap torques without Joule heating and enhanced current-induced torques, providing a robust route to manipulate a layer-resolved Chern marker and helical-like gapped edge modes in antiferromagnetic MnBi$_2$Te$_4$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_01810
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Spin-orbit torque switching of Néel order in band-inverted antiferromagnetic bilayer MnBi$_2$Te$_4$
Islam, Rajibul
Ahmad, Shakeel
Xue, Fei
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
Magnetic topological insulators host exotic phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect and quantized magnetoelectric responses, but dynamic electrical control of their topological phases remains elusive. Here we demonstrate from first principles that spin-orbit torque enables direct electrical switching of the Néel configuration in intrinsic antiferromagnetic bilayer MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, thereby reconfiguring its boundary spectrum. A symmetry-allowed interband (time-reversal even) torque persists inside the bulk gap, and deterministically reverses the Néel order and layer-resolved Chern marker without free carriers. Upon doping, both interband and intraband torques are amplified, lowering the critical electric field for switching by two orders of magnitude. Together, these results establish two complementary regimes of control: dissipationless in-gap torques without Joule heating and enhanced current-induced torques, providing a robust route to manipulate a layer-resolved Chern marker and helical-like gapped edge modes in antiferromagnetic MnBi$_2$Te$_4$.
title Spin-orbit torque switching of Néel order in band-inverted antiferromagnetic bilayer MnBi$_2$Te$_4$
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.01810