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Identifying axion insulator by quantized magnetoelectric effect in antiferromagnetic MnBi_{2}Te_{4} tunnel junction

Authors :
Yu-Hang Li
Ran Cheng
Source :
Physical Review Research, Vol 4, Iss 2, p L022067 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
American Physical Society, 2022.

Abstract

The intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi_{2}Te_{4} is believed to be an axion insulator in its antiferromagnetic ground state. However, the direct identification of axion insulators remains experimentally elusive because the observed vanishing Hall resistance, while indicating the onset of the axion field, is inadequate to distinguish the system from a trivial normal insulator. Using numerical Green's functions, we theoretically demonstrate the quantized magnetoelectric current in a tunnel junction of atomically thin MnBi_{2}Te_{4} sandwiched between two contacts, which is a smoking-gun signal that unambiguously confirms antiferromagnetic MnBi_{2}Te_{4} to be an axion insulator. Our predictions can be verified directly by experiments.

Subjects

Subjects :
Physics
QC1-999

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
26431564
Volume :
4
Issue :
2
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Physical Review Research
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.6f86d4c8625460585cebb952b92b85b
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L022067