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Advanced Experimental Methods for Low-temperature Magnetotransport Measurement of Novel Materials
Published on: January 21, 2016
Topological Hall Effect in a Topological Insulator Interfaced with a Magnetic Insulator
Peng Li1, Jinjun Ding1, Steven S-L Zhang2,3
1Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
Abstract:
A topological insulator (TI) interfaced with a magnetic insulator (MI) may host an anomalous Hall effect (AHE), a quantum AHE, and a topological Hall effect (THE). Recent studies, however, suggest that coexisting magnetic phases in TI/MI heterostructures may result in an AHE-associated response that resembles a THE but in fact is not. This Letter reports a genuine THE in a TI/MI structure that has only one magnetic phase. The structure shows a THE in the temperature range of T = 2-3 K and an AHE at T = 80-300 K. Over T = 3-80 K, the two effects coexist but show opposite temperature dependencies. Control measurements, calculations, and simulations together suggest that the observed THE originates from skyrmions, rather than the coexistence of two AHE responses. The skyrmions are formed due to a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) at the interface; the DMI strength estimated is substantially higher than that in heavy metal-based systems.
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