Orbital Complexity in Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Insulators <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>MnBi</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Te</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>7</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>MnBi</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>6</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Te</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>10</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:mrow></mml:math>
Raphael C. Vidal, Hendrik Bentmann, Jorge I. Facio, Tristan Heider, Philipp Kagerer, Celso I. Fornari, T. R. F. Peixoto, T. Figgemeier, Sung Won Jung, Céphise Cacho, B. Büchner, Jeroen van den Brink, Claus M. Schneider, Łukasz Pluciński, Eike F. Schwier, K. Shimada, Manuel Richter, Anna Isaeva, F. Reinert
Abstract
Using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), we investigate the surface electronic structure of the magnetic van der Waals compounds MnBi_{4}Te_{7} and MnBi_{6}Te_{10}, the n=1 and 2 members of a modular (Bi_{2}Te_{3})_{n}(MnBi_{2}Te_{4}) series, which have attracted recent interest as intrinsic magnetic topological insulators. Combining circular dichroic, spin-resolved and photon-energy-dependent ARPES measurements with calculations based on density functional theory, we unveil complex momentum-dependent orbital and spin textures in the surface electronic structure and disentangle topological from trivial surface bands. We find that the Dirac-cone dispersion of the topologial surface state is strongly perturbed by hybridization with valence-band states for Bi_{2}Te_{3}-terminated surfaces but remains preserved for MnBi_{2}Te_{4}-terminated surfaces. Our results firmly establish the topologically nontrivial nature of these magnetic van der Waals materials and indicate that the possibility of realizing a quantized anomalous Hall conductivity depends on surface termination.