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Quantized spin Hall conductance in a magnetically doped two dimensional topological insulator

Saquib Shamim, Wouter Beugeling, Pragya Shekhar, Kalle Bendias, Lukas Lunczer, Johannes Kleinlein, H. Buhmann, L. W. Molenkamp

2021Nature Communications23 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

Abstract Soon after the discovery of the quantum spin Hall effect, it has been predicted that a magnetic impurity in the presence of strong Coulomb interactions will destroy the quantum spin Hall effect. However, the fate of the quantum spin Hall effect in the presence of magnetic impurities has not yet been experimentally investigated. Here, we report the successful experimental demonstration of a quantized spin Hall resistance in HgTe quantum wells dilutely alloyed with magnetic Mn atoms. These quantum wells exhibit an inverted band structure that is very similar to that of the undoped material. Micron sized devices of (Hg,Mn)Te quantum well (in the topological phase) show a quantized spin Hall resistance of h /2 e 2 at low temperatures and zero magnetic field. At finite temperatures, we observe signatures of the Kondo effect due to interaction between the helical edge channels and magnetic impurities. Our work lays the foundation for future investigations of magnetically doped quantum spin Hall materials towards the realization of chiral Majorana fermions.

Topics & Concepts

Condensed matter physicsQuantum spin Hall effectPhysicsQuantum Hall effectQuantum anomalous Hall effectTopological insulatorSpin (aerodynamics)Spin Hall effectMagnetic fieldSpin polarizationQuantum mechanicsElectronThermodynamicsTopological Materials and PhenomenaGraphene research and applicationsAdvanced Condensed Matter Physics