Emergent Momentum-Space Skyrmion Texture on the Surface of Topological Insulators.

ABSTRACT: The quantum anomalous Hall effect has been theoretically predicted and experimentally verified in magnetic topological insulators. In addition, the surface states of these materials exhibit a hedgehoglike "spin" texture in momentum space. Here, we apply the previously formulated low-energy model for Bi₂Se₃, a parent compound for magnetic topological insulators, to a slab geometry in which an exchange field acts only within one of the surface layers. In this sample set up, the hedgehog transforms into a skyrmion texture beyond a critical exchange field. This critical field marks a transition between two topologically distinct phases. The topological phase transition takes place without energy gap closing at the Fermi level and leaves the transverse Hall conductance unc

SUBMITTER: Mohanta N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5381213 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature