Even-Odd Layer-Dependent Anomalous Hall Effect in Topological Magnet MnBi2Te4 Thin Films

Recently, MnBi2Te4 has been demonstrated to be an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator and the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect was observed in exfoliated MnBi2Te4 flakes. Here, we used molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow MnBi2Te4 films with thickness down to 1 septuple layer (SL) and performed thickness-dependent transport measurements. We observed a nonsquare hysteresis loop in the antiferromagnetic state for films with thickness greater than 2 SL. The hysteresis loop can be separated into two AH components. We demonstrated that one AH component with the larger coercive field is from the dominant MnBi2Te4 phase, whereas the other AH component with the smaller coercive field is from the minor Mn-doped Bi2Te3 phase. The extracted AH component of the MnBi2Te4 phase shows a clear even-odd layer-dependent behavior. Our studies reveal insights on how to optimize the MBE growth conditions to improve the quality of MnBi2Te4 films.

Automated summary

The study utilized molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow MnBi2Te4 films of various thicknesses and observed a nonsquare hysteresis loop in films with a thickness greater than 2 septuple layers (SL). The hysteresis loop was found to consist of two anomalous Hall (AH) components, one from the dominant MnBi2Te4 phase and the other from the minor Mn-doped Bi2Te3 phase. The AH component extracted from the MnBi2Te4 phase exhibited clear even-odd layer-dependent behavior.