Chern Number Tunable Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Compensated Antiferromagnets
We propose to realize the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) in two-dimensional compensated antiferromagnets without net spin magnetization. We consider antiferromagnetic MnBi_{2}Te_{4} as a concrete example. By breaking the parity-time (PT) symmetry of even-layer MnBi_{2}Te_{4}, we find that the system can host the QAHE with a nonzero Chern number. We show that by controlling the antiferromagnetic spin configuration-for example, down/up/up/down that breaks PT symmetry-tetralayer MnBi_{2}Te_{4} can host a Chern number |C|=1. Such spin configuration can be stabilized by pinning the spin orientations of the surfaces. Furthermore, via tuning the on-site orbital energy and vertical electric fields, we find rich QAHE phases with tunable Chern number of |C|=1,2,3. In addition, we reveal that the edge states are layer selective and primarily located at the boundaries of the bottom and top layers. Our Letter not only proposes a scheme to realize Chern number tunable QAHE in antiferromagnets without net spin magnetization but also provides a platform for layer-selective dissipationless transport devices.
Authors
- Yafei Ren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1441-8259)
- Zeyu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8275-8637)
- Wenhao Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1075-5912)
- Jiaqi An (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6016-5486)
- Zhenhua Qiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7195-8561)
- Qian Niu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7181-8362)
Institutions
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
- University of Delaware (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-03-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.116603
- Citations
- 13
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 16.21
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- National Key Research and Development Program of China