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Quantum Anomalous Hall Effects in Graphene from Proximity-Induced Uniform and Staggered Spin-Orbit and Exchange Coupling

Petra Högl, Tobias Frank, Klaus Zollner, Denis Kochan, Martin Gmitra, and Jaroslav Fabian
Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 136403 – Published 30 March 2020
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Abstract

We investigate an effective model of proximity modified graphene (or symmetrylike materials) with broken time-reversal symmetry. We predict the appearance of quantum anomalous Hall phases by computing bulk band gap and Chern numbers for benchmark combinations of system parameters. Allowing for staggered exchange field enables quantum anomalous Hall effect in flat graphene with Chern number C=1. We explicitly show edge states in zigzag and armchair nanoribbons and explore their localization behavior. Remarkably, the combination of staggered intrinsic spin-orbit and uniform exchange coupling gives topologically protected (unlike in time-reversal systems) pseudohelical states, whose spin is opposite in opposite zigzag edges. Rotating the magnetization from out of plane to in plane makes the system trivial, allowing us to control topological phase transitions. We also propose, using density functional theory, a material platform—graphene on Ising antiferromagnet MnPSe3—to realize staggered exchange (pseudospin Zeeman) coupling.

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  • Received 28 May 2019
  • Revised 27 December 2019
  • Accepted 27 January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.136403

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter & Materials Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Petra Högl1,*, Tobias Frank1, Klaus Zollner1, Denis Kochan1, Martin Gmitra2, and Jaroslav Fabian1

  • 1Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
  • 2Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, 04001 Košice, Slovakia

  • *petra.hoegl@physik.uni-regensburg.de

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Issue

Vol. 124, Iss. 13 — 3 April 2020

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