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Even-integer quantum Hall effect in an oxide caused by a hidden Rashba effect

Nature Nanotechnology (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

In the presence of a high magnetic field, quantum Hall systems usually host both even- and odd-integer quantized states because of lifted band degeneracies. Selective control of these quantized states is challenging but essential to understand the exotic ground states and manipulate the spin textures. Here we demonstrate the quantum Hall effect in Bi2O2Se thin films. In magnetic fields as high as 50 T, we observe only even-integer quantum Hall states, but there is no sign of odd-integer states. However, when reducing the thickness of the epitaxial Bi2O2Se film to one unit cell, we observe both odd- and even-integer states in this Janus (asymmetric) film grown on SrTiO3. By means of a Rashba bilayer model based on the ab initio band structures of Bi2O2Se thin films, we can ascribe the only even-integer states in thicker films to the hidden Rasbha effect, where the local inversion-symmetry breaking in two sectors of the [Bi2O2]2+ layer yields opposite Rashba spin polarizations, which compensate with each other. In the one-unit-cell Bi2O2Se film grown on SrTiO3, the asymmetry introduced by the top surface and bottom interface induces a net polar field. The resulting global Rashba effect lifts the band degeneracies present in the symmetric case of thicker films.

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Fig. 1: Rashba bilayer structure in Bi2O2Se films.
Fig. 2: STEM images and electrical characterization of epitaxial Bi2O2Se films on SrTiO3.
Fig. 3: Even-integer QHE in epitaxial Bi2O2Se films.
Fig. 4: Even-integer QHE in Bi2O2Se nanoflakes.
Fig. 5: Thickness-dependent QHE and quantum oscillations in epitaxial Bi2O2Se films.
Fig. 6: Calculated effective g factors and band structures for Bi2O2Se thin films.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Molecular Materials and Nanofabrication Laboratory (MMNL) in the College of Chemistry at Peking University for the use of instruments. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1204900 (H.P.), 2021YFA1202901 (J.H. and C.T.)), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21920102004 (H.P.), 92365203 (H.Y.), 92164205 (J.W. and C.T.), 52021006 (H.P.), 22205011 (C.T.), 52072168 (H.Y.), 51861145201 (H.Y.), 21733001 (H.P.), 22105009 (J.W.) and 52302180 (J.H.)), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS-CXTD-202001 (H.P.)) and the Tencent Foundation (The XPLORER PRIZE (H.P.)). B.Y. acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant ‘NonlinearTopo’, no. 815869) and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF; 2932/21 and 2974/23). J.W. acknowledges support from the Boya Postdoctoral Fellowship. D.K. is supported by the Abrahams Fellowship of the Center for Materials Theory, Rutgers University and the Zuckerman STEM fellowship.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jingyue Wang, Junwei Huang, Daniel Kaplan, Xuehan Zhou, Congwei Tan.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing Science and Engineering Center for Nanocarbons, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Jingyue Wang, Xuehan Zhou, Congwei Tan, Xuzhong Cong, Yongchao Zhu, Xiaoyin Gao, Yan Liang, Hongtao Liu & Hailin Peng

  2. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Junwei Huang & Hongtao Yuan

  3. Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Daniel Kaplan, Ady Stern & Binghai Yan

  4. Center for Materials Theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Daniel Kaplan

  5. Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center and School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Jing Zhang, Gangjian Jin, Huakun Zuo & Zengwei Zhu

  6. International Center for Quantum Materials and Electron Microscopy Laboratory, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Ruixue Zhu & Peng Gao

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Contributions

H.P., H.Y. and B.Y. conceived the original idea for the project. X.Z., C.T., Y.L. and X.C. synthesized the materials. J.W., X.Z., X.C. and Y.Z. fabricated the devices. X.Z., X.G., R.Z. and P.G. carried out the STEM measurements. J.W. and J.H. carried out the static-magnetic-field transport measurements. Pulsed-magnetic-field transport measurements were performed by J.W., J.H. and C.T. with help from J.Z., G.J., H.Z. and Z.Z. D.K., A.S. and B.Y. carried out the theoretical calculations. J.W., J.H., X.Z., A.S., H.P., B.Y. and H.Y. wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the scientific planning and discussions.

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Correspondence to Binghai Yan, Hongtao Yuan or Hailin Peng.

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Wang, J., Huang, J., Kaplan, D. et al. Even-integer quantum Hall effect in an oxide caused by a hidden Rashba effect. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01732-z

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