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Magnetic quantum phase transition in Cr-doped Bi2(SexTe1−x)3 driven by the Stark effect

Abstract

The recent experimental observation of the quantum anomalous Hall effect1,2,3,4,5 has cast significant attention on magnetic topological insulators. In these magnetic counterparts of conventional topological insulators such as Bi2Te3, a long-range ferromagnetic state can be established by chemical doping with transition-metal elements6,7,8. However, a much richer electronic phase diagram can emerge and, in the specific case of Cr-doped Bi2(SexTe1−x)3, a magnetic quantum phase transition tuned by the actual chemical composition has been reported8. From an application-oriented perspective, the relevance of these results hinges on the possibility to manipulate magnetism and electronic band topology by external perturbations such as an electric field generated by gate electrodes—similar to what has been achieved in conventional diluted magnetic semiconductors9. Here, we investigate the magneto-transport properties of Cr-doped Bi2(SexTe1−x)3 with different compositions under the effect of a gate voltage. The electric field has a negligible effect on magnetic order for all investigated compositions, with the remarkable exception of the sample close to the topological quantum critical point, where the gate voltage reversibly drives a ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic phase transition. Theoretical calculations show that a perpendicular electric field causes a shift in the electronic energy levels due to the Stark effect, which induces a topological quantum phase transition and, in turn, a magnetic phase transition.

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Figure 1: Experimental set-up and materials characterization.
Figure 2: Gate-tuned anomalous Hall curves for samples far from the topological quantum critical point.
Figure 3: Gate-tuned magnetic phase transition near the topological quantum critical point.
Figure 4: Stark-effect-induced topological phase transition.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank P. Tang, J. Li and H. Zhang for discussions. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. This work is supported in part by the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Chip (ICFC). B.L., J.W. and S.-C.Z. acknowledge support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (contract no. DE-AC02-76SF00515). J.W. acknowledges support from the National Thousand-Young-Talents Program.

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Contributions

Y.W., K.H. and Q.-K.X. conceived and designed the experiments. Z.Z., J.Z., M.G. and Y.F. carried out transport measurements and analysed the data. X.F., C.C., Y.O. and X.C.M. grew magnetic topological insulator thin film and obtained angle-resolved photoemission spectra. J.W., B.L. and S.-C.Z. performed theoretical calculations. Z.Z. and Y.W. wrote the paper, with input from all authors. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ke He or Yayu Wang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Zhang, Z., Feng, X., Wang, J. et al. Magnetic quantum phase transition in Cr-doped Bi2(SexTe1−x)3 driven by the Stark effect. Nature Nanotech 12, 953–957 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.149

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