Interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) between two magnetic layers sandwiched by a nonmagnetic spacer layer plays a critical role in shaping the magnetic properties of such heterostructures. The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect has been realized in a structure composed of two magnetically doped topological insulator (TI) layers separated by an undoped TI layer. In this work, we employ molecular beam epitaxy to synthesize a series of magnetic TI sandwiches with varying thicknesses of the middle TI spacer layer. The well-quantized QAH effect is observed in all these samples, and the IEC modulates its critical behavior between the top and bottom magnetic TI layers. Near the plateau phase transition (PPT), thinner QAH samples exhibit a two-dimensional critical metal behavior with nearly temperature-independent longitudinal resistance. In contrast, thicker QAH samples behave as a three-dimensional insulator with reduced longitudinal resistance at higher temperatures. We employ a magnetic TI Hamiltonian with random magnetic domains to understand the IEC-induced critical-metal-to-insulator transition observed near QAH PPT.
@article{arxiv.2404.02430,
title = {Interlayer Exchange Coupling-Induced Critical-Metal-to-Insulator Phase Transition in Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulators},
author = {Ruoxi Zhang and Yi-Fan Zhao and Ling-Jie Zhou and Deyi Zhuo and Zi-Jie Yan and Chao-Xing Liu and Moses H. W. Chan and Chui-Zhen Chen and Cui-Zu Chang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.02430},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
20 pages, 4 figures, comments are very much welcome