Electrical switching of the edge current chirality in quantum anomalous Hall insulators
Source abstract
Abstract
A quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) insulator is a topological phase in which the interior is insulating but electrical current flows along the edges of the sample in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, as dictated by the spontaneous magnetization orientation. Such a chiral edge current eliminates any backscattering, giving rise to quantized Hall resistance and zero longitudinal resistance. Here we fabricate mesoscopic QAH sandwich Hall bar devices and succeed in switching the edge current chirality through thermally assisted spin-orbit torque (SOT). The well-quantized QAH states before and after SOT switching with opposite edge current chiralities are demonstrated through four- and three-terminal measurements. We show that the SOT responsible for magnetization switching can be generated by both surface and bulk carriers. Our results further our understanding of the interplay between magnetism and topological states and usher in an easy and instantaneous method to manipulate the QAH state.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Topological Materials and Phenomena · Graphene research and applications · Quantum and electron transport phenomena
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (42)
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