Anomalous Landau quantization in intrinsic magnetic topological insulators
Su Kong Chong, Chao Lei, Seng Huat Lee, J. Jaroszyński, Zhiqiang Mao, A. H. MacDonald, Kang L. Wang
Abstract
Abstract The intrinsic magnetic topological insulator, Mn(Bi 1−x Sb x ) 2 Te 4 , has been identified as a Weyl semimetal with a single pair of Weyl nodes in its spin-aligned strong-field configuration. A direct consequence of the Weyl state is the layer dependent Chern number, $$C$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>C</mml:mi> </mml:math> . Previous reports in MnBi 2 Te 4 thin films have shown higher $$C$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>C</mml:mi> </mml:math> states either by increasing the film thickness or controlling the chemical potential. A clear picture of the higher Chern states is still lacking as data interpretation is further complicated by the emergence of surface-band Landau levels under magnetic fields. Here, we report a tunable layer-dependent $$C$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>C</mml:mi> </mml:math> = 1 state with Sb substitution by performing a detailed analysis of the quantization states in Mn(Bi 1−x Sb x ) 2 Te 4 dual-gated devices—consistent with calculations of the bulk Weyl point separation in the doped thin films. The observed Hall quantization plateaus for our thicker Mn(Bi 1−x Sb x ) 2 Te 4 films under strong magnetic fields can be interpreted by a theory of surface and bulk spin-polarised Landau level spectra in thin film magnetic topological insulators.