Layer Hall effect in a 2D topological axion antiferromagnet.

Whereas ferromagnets have been known and used for millennia, antiferromagnets were only discovered in the 1930s1. At large scale, because of the absence of global magnetization, antiferromagnets may seem to behave like any non-magnetic material. At the microscopic level, however, the opposite alignment of spins forms a rich internal structure. In topological antiferromagnets, this internal structure leads to the possibility that the property known as the Berry phase can acquire distinct spatial textures2,3. Here we study this possibility in an antiferromagnetic axion insulator-even-layered, two-dimensional MnBi2Te4-in which spatial degrees of freedom correspond to different layers. We observe a type of Hall effect-the layer Hall effect-in which electrons from the top and bottom layers spontaneously deflect in opposite directions. Specifically, under zero electric field, even-layered MnBi2Te4 shows no anomalous Hall effect. However, applying an electric field leads to the emergence of a large, layer-polarized anomalous Hall effect of about 0.5e2/h (where e is the electron charge and h is Planck's constant). This layer Hall effect uncovers an unusual layer-locked Berry curvature, which serves to characterize the axion insulator state. Moreover, we find that the layer-locked Berry curvature can be manipulated by the axion field formed from the dot product of the electric and magnetic field vectors. Our results offer new pathways to detect and manipulate the internal spatial structure of fully compensated topological antiferromagnets4-9. The layer-locked Berry curvature represents a first step towards spatial engineering of the Berry phase through effects such as layer-specific moiré potential.

Quantum Hall effect based on Weyl orbits in Cd3As2.

Discovered decades ago, the quantum Hall effect remains one of the most studied phenomena in condensed matter physics and is relevant for research areas such as topological phases, strong electron correlations and quantum computing1-5. The quantized electron transport that is characteristic of the quantum Hall effect typically originates from chiral edge states-ballistic conducting channels that emerge when two-dimensional electron systems are subjected to large magnetic fields2. However, whether the quantum Hall effect can be extended to higher dimensions without simply stacking two-dimensional systems is unknown. Here we report evidence of a new type of quantum Hall effect, based on Weyl orbits in nanostructures of the three-dimensional topological semimetal Cd3As2. The Weyl orbits consist of Fermi arcs (open arc-like surface states) on opposite surfaces of the sample connected by one-dimensional chiral Landau levels along the magnetic field through the bulk6,7. This transport through the bulk results in an additional contribution (compared to stacked two-dimensional systems and which depends on the sample thickness) to the quantum phase of the Weyl orbit. Consequently, chiral states can emerge even in the bulk. To measure these quantum phase shifts and search for the associated chiral modes in the bulk, we conduct transport experiments using wedge-shaped Cd3As2 nanostructures with variable thickness. We find that the quantum Hall transport is strongly modulated by the sample thickness. The dependence of the Landau levels on the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field and on the sample thickness agrees with theoretical predictions based on the modified Lifshitz-Onsager relation for the Weyl orbits. Nanostructures of topological semimetals thus provide a way of exploring quantum Hall physics in three-dimensional materials with enhanced tunability.

Observation of the nonlinear Hall effect under time-reversal-symmetric conditions.

The electrical Hall effect is the production, upon the application of an electric field, of a transverse voltage under an out-of-plane magnetic field. Studies of the Hall effect have led to important breakthroughs, including the discoveries of Berry curvature and topological Chern invariants1,2. The internal magnetization of magnets means that the electrical Hall effect can occur in the absence of an external magnetic field2; this 'anomalous' Hall effect is important for the study of quantum magnets2-7. The electrical Hall effect has rarely been studied in non-magnetic materials without external magnetic fields, owing to the constraint of time-reversal symmetry. However, only in the linear response regime-when the Hall voltage is linearly proportional to the external electric field-does the Hall effect identically vanish as a result of time-reversal symmetry; the Hall effect in the nonlinear response regime is not subject to such symmetry constraints8-10. Here we report observations of the nonlinear Hall effect10 in electrical transport in bilayers of the non-magnetic quantum material WTe2 under time-reversal-symmetric conditions. We show that an electric current in bilayer WTe2 leads to a nonlinear Hall voltage in the absence of a magnetic field. The properties of this nonlinear Hall effect are distinct from those of the anomalous Hall effect in metals: the nonlinear Hall effect results in a quadratic, rather than linear, current-voltage characteristic and, in contrast to the anomalous Hall effect, the nonlinear Hall effect results in a much larger transverse than longitudinal voltage response, leading to a nonlinear Hall angle (the angle between the total voltage response and the applied electric field) of nearly 90 degrees. We further show that the nonlinear Hall effect provides a direct measure of the dipole moment10 of the Berry curvature, which arises from layer-polarized Dirac fermions in bilayer WTe2. Our results demonstrate a new type of Hall effect and provide a way of detecting Berry curvature in non-magnetic quantum materials.

Topological Lifshitz transition and one-dimensional Weyl mode in HfTe5.

Landau band crossings typically stem from the intra-band evolution of electronic states in magnetic fields and enhance the interaction effect in their vicinity. Here in the extreme quantum limit of topological insulator HfTe5, we report the observation of a topological Lifshitz transition from inter-band Landau level crossings using magneto-infrared spectroscopy. By tracking the Landau level transitions, we demonstrate that band inversion drives the zeroth Landau bands to cross with each other after 4.5 T and forms a one-dimensional Weyl mode with the fundamental gap persistently closed. The unusual reduction of the zeroth Landau level transition activity suggests a topological Lifshitz transition at 21 T, which shifts the Weyl mode close to the Fermi level. As a result, a broad and asymmetric absorption feature emerges due to the Pauli blocking effect in one dimension, along with a distinctive negative magneto-resistivity. Our results provide a strategy for realizing one-dimensional Weyl quasiparticles in bulk crystals.

Axion optical induction of antiferromagnetic order.

Using circularly polarized light to control quantum matter is a highly intriguing topic in physics, chemistry and biology. Previous studies have demonstrated helicity-dependent optical control of chirality and magnetization, with important implications in asymmetric synthesis in chemistry; homochirality in biomolecules; and ferromagnetic spintronics. We report the surprising observation of helicity-dependent optical control of fully compensated antiferromagnetic order in two-dimensional even-layered MnBi2Te4, a topological axion insulator with neither chirality nor magnetization. To understand this control, we study an antiferromagnetic circular dichroism, which appears only in reflection but is absent in transmission. We show that the optical control and circular dichroism both arise from the optical axion electrodynamics. Our axion induction provides the possibility to optically control a family of [Formula: see text]-symmetric antiferromagnets ([Formula: see text], inversion; [Formula: see text], time-reversal) such as Cr2O3, even-layered CrI3 and possibly the pseudo-gap state in cuprates. In MnBi2Te4, this further opens the door for optical writing of a dissipationless circuit formed by topological edge states.

Antisymmetric Seebeck Effect in a Tilted Weyl Semimetal.

Tilting the Weyl cone breaks the Lorentz invariance and enriches the Weyl physics. Here, we report the observation of a magnetic-field-antisymmetric Seebeck effect in a tilted Weyl semimetal, Co_{3}Sn_{2}S_{2}. Moreover, it is found that the Seebeck effect and the Nernst effect are antisymmetric in both the in-plane magnetic field and the magnetization. We attribute these exotic effects to the one-dimensional chiral anomaly and phase space correction due to the Berry curvature. The observation is further reproduced by a theoretical calculation, taking into account the orbital magnetization.

Theory for Magnetic-Field-Driven 3D Metal-Insulator Transitions in the Quantum Limit.

Metal-insulator transitions driven by magnetic fields have been extensively studied in 2D, but a 3D theory is still lacking. Motivated by recent experiments, we develop a scaling theory for the metal-insulator transitions in the strong-magnetic-field quantum limit of a 3D system. By using a renormalization-group calculation to treat electron-electron interactions, electron-phonon interactions, and disorder on the same footing, we obtain the critical exponent that characterizes the scaling relations of the resistivity to temperature and magnetic field. By comparing the critical exponent with those in a recent experiment [F. Tang et al., Nature (London) 569, 537 (2019)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/s41586-019-1180-9], we conclude that the insulating ground state was not only a charge-density wave driven by electron-phonon interactions but also coexisting with strong electron-electron interactions and backscattering disorder. We also propose a current-scaling experiment for further verification. Our theory will be helpful for exploring the emergent territory of 3D metal-insulator transitions under strong magnetic fields.

Coulomb Instabilities of a Three-Dimensional Higher-Order Topological Insulator.

Topological insulators (TIs) are an exciting discovery because of their robustness against disorder and interactions. Recently, second-order TIs have been attracting increasing attention, because they host topologically protected 1D hinge states in 3D or 0D corner states in 2D. A significantly critical issue is whether the second-order TIs also survive interactions, but it is still unexplored. We study the effects of weak Coulomb interactions on a 3D second-order TI, with the help of renormalization-group calculations. We find that the 3D second-order TIs are always unstable, suffering from two types of topological phase transitions. One is from second-order TI to TI, the other is to normal insulator. The first type is accompanied by emergent time-reversal and inversion symmetries and has a dynamical critical exponent κ=1. The second type does not have the emergent symmetries but has nonuniversal dynamical critical exponents κ<1. Our results may inspire more inspections on the stability of higher-order topological states of matter and related novel quantum criticalities.

Field-Tunable One-Sided Higher-Order Topological Hinge States in Dirac Semimetals.

Recently, higher-order topological matter and 3D quantum Hall effects have attracted a great amount of attention. The Fermi-arc mechanism of the 3D quantum Hall effect proposed to exist in Weyl semimetals is characterized by the one-sided hinge states, which do not exist in all the previous quantum Hall systems, and more importantly, pose a realistic example of the higher-order topological matter. The experimental effort so far is in the Dirac semimetal Cd_{3}As_{2}, where, however, time-reversal symmetry leads to hinge states on both sides of the top and bottom surfaces, instead of the aspired one-sided hinge states. We propose that under a tilted magnetic field, the hinge states in Cd_{3}As_{2}-like Dirac semimetals can be one sided, highly tunable by field direction and Fermi energy, and robust against weak disorder. Furthermore, we propose a scanning tunneling Hall measurement to detect the one-sided hinge states. Our results will be insightful for exploring not only the quantum Hall effects beyond two dimensions, but also other higher-order topological insulators in the future.

Theory for the Charge-Density-Wave Mechanism of 3D Quantum Hall Effect.

The charge-density-wave (CDW) mechanism of the 3D quantum Hall effect has been observed recently in ZrTe_{5} [Tang et al., Nature 569, 537 (2019)10.1038/s41586-019-1180-9]. Different from previous cases, the CDW forms on a one-dimensional (1D) band of Landau levels, which strongly depends on the magnetic field. However, its theory is still lacking. We develop a theory for the CDW mechanism of 3D quantum Hall effect. The theory can capture the main features in the experiments. We find a magnetic field induced second-order phase transition to the CDW phase. We find that electron-phonon interactions, rather than electron-electron interactions, dominate the order parameter. We extract the electron-phonon coupling constant from the non-Ohmic I-V relation. We point out a commensurate-incommensurate CDW crossover in the experiment. More importantly, our theory explores a rare case, in which a magnetic field can induce an order-parameter phase transition in one direction but a topological phase transition in other two directions, both depend on one magnetic field.

Weak Localization and Antilocalization in Nodal-Line Semimetals: Dimensionality and Topological Effects.

New materials such as nodal-line semimetals offer a unique setting for novel transport phenomena. Here, we calculate the quantum correction to conductivity in a disordered nodal-line semimetal. The torus-shaped Fermi surface and encircled π Berry flux carried by the nodal loop result in a fascinating interplay between the effective dimensionality of electron diffusion and band topology, which depends on the scattering range of the impurity potential relative to the size of the nodal loop. For a short-range impurity potential, backscattering is dominated by the interference paths that do not encircle the nodal loop, yielding a 3D weak localization effect. In contrast, for a long-range impurity potential, the electrons effectively diffuse in various 2D planes and the backscattering is dominated by the interference paths that encircle the nodal loop. The latter leads to weak antilocalization with a 2D scaling law. Our results are consistent with symmetry consideration, where the two regimes correspond to the orthogonal and symplectic classes, respectively. Furthermore, we present weak-field magnetoconductivity calculations at low temperatures for realistic experimental parameters and predict that clear scaling signatures ∝sqrt[B] and ∝-lnB, respectively. The crossover between the 3D weak localization and 2D weak antilocalization can be probed by tuning the Fermi energy, giving a unique transport signature of the nodal-line semimetal.

Decays of Majorana or Andreev Oscillations Induced by Steplike Spin-Orbit Coupling.

The Majorana zero mode in the semiconductor-superconductor nanowire is one of the promising candidates for topological quantum computing. Recently, in islands of nanowires, subgap-state energies have been experimentally observed to oscillate as a function of the magnetic field, showing a signature of overlapped Majorana bound states. However, the oscillation amplitude either dies away after an overshoot or decays, sharply opposite to the theoretically predicted enhanced oscillations for Majorana bound states. We reveal that a steplike distribution of spin-orbit coupling in realistic devices can induce the decaying Majorana oscillations, resulting from the coupling-induced energy repulsion between the quasiparticle spectra on the two sides of the step. This steplike spin-orbit coupling can also lead to decaying oscillations in the spectrum of the Andreev bound states. For Coulomb-blockade peaks mediated by the Majorana bound states, the peak spacings have been predicted to correlate with peak heights by a π/2 phase shift, which was ambiguous in recent experiments and may be explained by the steplike spin-orbit coupling. Our work will inspire more works to reexamine effects of the nonuniform spin-orbit coupling, which is generally present in experimental devices.

Anomalous Thermoelectric Effects of ZrTe_{5} in and beyond the Quantum Limit.

Thermoelectric effects are more sensitive and promising probes to topological properties of emergent materials, but much less addressed compared to other physical properties. We study the thermoelectric effects of ZrTe_{5} in a magnetic field. The presence of the nontrivial electrons leads to the anomalous Nernst effect and quasilinear field dependence of thermopower below the quantum limit. In the strong-field quantum limit, both the thermopower and Nernst signal exhibit exotic peaks. At higher magnetic fields, the Nernst signal has a sign reversal at a critical field where the thermopower approaches zero. We propose that these anomalous behaviors can be attributed to the gap closing of the zeroth Landau bands in topological materials with the band inversion. Our understanding to the anomalous thermoelectric properties in ZrTe_{5} opens a new avenue for exploring Dirac physics in topological materials.

Forbidden Backscattering and Resistance Dip in the Quantum Limit as a Signature for Topological Insulators.

Identifying topological insulators and semimetals often focuses on their surface states, using spectroscopic methods such as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy or scanning tunneling microscopy. In contrast, studying the topological properties of topological insulators from their bulk-state transport is more accessible in most labs but seldom addressed. We show that, in the quantum limit of a topological insulator, the backscattering between the only two states on the Fermi surface of the lowest Landau band can be forbidden at a critical magnetic field. The conductivity is determined solely by the backscattering between the two states, leading to a resistance dip that may serve as a signature for topological insulator phases. More importantly, this forbidden backscattering mechanism for the resistance dip is irrelevant to details of disorder scattering. Our theory can be applied to revisit the experiments on Pb_{1-x}Sn_{x}Se, ZrTe_{5}, and Ag_{2}Te families, and will be particularly useful for controversial small-gap materials at the boundary between topological and normal insulators.

Band Signatures for Strong Nonlinear Hall Effect in Bilayer WTe_{2}.

Unconventional responses upon breaking discrete or crystal symmetries open avenues for exploring emergent physical systems and materials. By breaking inversion symmetry, a nonlinear Hall signal can be observed, even in the presence of time-reversal symmetry, quite different from the conventional Hall effects. Low-symmetry two-dimensional materials are promising candidates for the nonlinear Hall effect, but it is less known when a strong nonlinear Hall signal can be measured, in particular, its connections with the band-structure properties. By using model analysis, we find prominent nonlinear Hall signals near tilted band anticrossings and band inversions. These band signatures can be used to explain the strong nonlinear Hall effect in the recent experiments on two-dimensional WTe_{2}. This Letter will be instructive not only for analyzing the transport signatures of the nonlinear Hall effect but also for exploring unconventional responses in emergent materials.

Rules for Phase Shifts of Quantum Oscillations in Topological Nodal-Line Semimetals.

Nodal-line semimetals are topological semimetals in which band touchings form nodal lines or rings. Around a loop that encloses a nodal line, an electron can accumulate a nontrivial π Berry phase, so the phase shift in the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation may give a transport signature for the nodal-line semimetals. However, different experiments have reported contradictory phase shifts, in particular, in the WHM nodal-line semimetals (W=Zr/Hf, H=Si/Ge, M=S/Se/Te). For a generic model of nodal-line semimetals, we present a systematic calculation for the SdH oscillation of resistivity under a magnetic field normal to the nodal-line plane. From the analytical result of the resistivity, we extract general rules to determine the phase shifts for arbitrary cases and apply them to ZrSiS and Cu_{3}PdN systems. Depending on the magnetic field directions, carrier types, and cross sections of the Fermi surface, the phase shift shows rich results, quite different from those for normal electrons and Weyl fermions. Our results may help explore transport signatures of topological nodal-line semimetals and can be generalized to other topological phases of matter.

Tunable Positive to Negative Magnetoresistance in Atomically Thin WTe2.

Transitional metal ditelluride WTe2 has been extensively studied owing to its intriguing physical properties like nonsaturating positive magnetoresistance and being possibly a type-II Weyl semimetal. While surging research activities were devoted to the understanding of its bulk properties, it remains a substantial challenge to explore the pristine physics in atomically thin WTe2. Here, we report a successful synthesis of mono- to few-layer WTe2 via chemical vapor deposition. Using atomically thin WTe2 nanosheets, we discover a previously inaccessible ambipolar behavior that enables the tunability of magnetoconductance of few-layer WTe2 from weak antilocalization to weak localization, revealing a strong electrical field modulation of the spin-orbit interaction under perpendicular magnetic field. These appealing physical properties unveiled in this study clearly identify WTe2 as a promising platform for exotic electronic and spintronic device applications.

Negative Magnetoresistance without Chiral Anomaly in Topological Insulators.

An intriguing phenomenon in topological semimetals and topological insulators is the negative magnetoresistance (MR) observed when a magnetic field is applied along the current direction. A prevailing understanding to the negative MR in topological semimetals is the chiral anomaly, which, however, is not well defined in topological insulators. We calculate the MR of a three-dimensional topological insulator, by using the semiclassical equations of motion, in which the Berry curvature explicitly induces an anomalous velocity and orbital moment. Our theoretical results are in quantitative agreement with the experiments. The negative MR is not sensitive to temperature and increases as the Fermi energy approaches the band edge. The orbital moment and g factors also play important roles in the negative MR. Our results give a reasonable explanation to the negative MR in 3D topological insulators and will be helpful in understanding the anomalous quantum transport in topological states of matter.

3D Quantum Hall Effect of Fermi Arcs in Topological Semimetals.

The quantum Hall effect is usually observed in 2D systems. We show that the Fermi arcs can give rise to a distinctive 3D quantum Hall effect in topological semimetals. Because of the topological constraint, the Fermi arc at a single surface has an open Fermi surface, which cannot host the quantum Hall effect. Via a "wormhole" tunneling assisted by the Weyl nodes, the Fermi arcs at opposite surfaces can form a complete Fermi loop and support the quantum Hall effect. The edge states of the Fermi arcs show a unique 3D distribution, giving an example of (d-2)-dimensional boundary states. This is distinctly different from the surface-state quantum Hall effect from a single surface of topological insulator. As the Fermi energy sweeps through the Weyl nodes, the sheet Hall conductivity evolves from the 1/B dependence to quantized plateaus at the Weyl nodes. This behavior can be realized by tuning gate voltages in a slab of topological semimetal, such as the TaAs family, Cd_{3}As_{2}, or Na_{3}Bi. This work will be instructive not only for searching transport signatures of the Fermi arcs but also for exploring novel electron gases in other topological phases of matter.