To date, the quantum anomalous Hall effect has been realized in chromium (Cr)- and/or vanadium(V)-doped topological insulator (Bi,Sb)2Te3 thin films. In this work, we use molecular beam epitaxy to synthesize both V- and Cr-doped Bi2Te3 thin films with controlled dopant concentration. By performing magneto-transport measurements, we find that both systems show an unusual yet similar ferromagnetic response with respect to magnetic dopant concentration; specifically the Curie temperature does not increase monotonically but shows a local maximum at a critical dopant concentration. We attribute this unusual ferromagnetic response observed in Cr/V-doped Bi2Te3 thin films to the dopant-concentration-induced magnetic exchange interaction, which displays evolution from van Vleck-type ferromagnetism in a nontrivial magnetic topological insulator to Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY)-type ferromagnetism in a trivial diluted magnetic semiconductor. Our work provides insights into the ferromagnetic properties of magnetically doped topological insulator thin films and facilitates the pursuit of high-temperature quantum anomalous Hall effect.
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Exchange‐Biased Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect
Abstract The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is characterized by a dissipationless chiral edge state with a quantized Hall resistance at zero magnetic field. Manipulating the QAH state is of great importance in both the understanding of topological quantum physics and the implementation of dissipationless electronics. Here, the QAH effect is realized in the magnetic topological insulator Cr‐doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3(CBST) grown on an uncompensated antiferromagnetic insulator Al‐doped Cr2O3. Through polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR), a strong exchange coupling is found between CBST and Al‐Cr2O3surface spins fixing interfacial magnetic moments perpendicular to the film plane. The interfacial coupling results in an exchange‐biased QAH effect. This study further demonstrates that the magnitude and sign of the exchange bias can be effectively controlled using a field training process to set the magnetization of the Al‐Cr2O3layer. It demonstrates the use of the exchange bias effect to effectively manipulate the QAH state, opening new possibilities in QAH‐based spintronics.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1936383
- PAR ID:
- 10506056
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Materials
- Volume:
- 35
- Issue:
- 31
- ISSN:
- 0935-9648
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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