arXiv subjects

Hsiu-Chuan Hsu

Publications and source records attributed to Hsiu-Chuan Hsu.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Topological phase transitions in an inverted InAs/GaSb quantum well driven by tilted magnetic fields

The helical edge states in a quantum spin Hall insulator are presumably protected by time- reversal symmetry. However, even in the presence of magnetic field which breaks time-reversal symmetry, the helical edge conduction can still exist, dubbed as pseudo quantum spin Hall effect. In this work, the effects of the magnetic fields on the pseudo quantum spin Hall effect and the phase transitions are studied. We show that an in-plane magnetic field drives a pseudo quantum spin Hall state to metallic state at a high field. Moreover, at a fixed in-plane magnetic field, an increasing out-of-plane magnetic field leads to a reentrance of pseudo quantum spin Hall state in an inverted InAs/GaSb quantum well. The edge state probability distribution and Chern numbers are calculated to verify that the reentrant states are topologically nontrivial. The origin of the reentrant behavior is attributed to the nonmonotonic bending of Landau levels and the Landau level mixing caused by the orbital effect induced by the in-plane magnetic field. The robustness to disorder is demonstrated by the numerically calculated quantized conductance for disordered nanowires within Landauer-Büttiker formalism.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Electrically tunable spin polarization of chiral edge modes in a quantum anomalous Hall insulator

In the quantum anomalous Hall effect, chiral edge modes are expected to conduct spin polarized current without dissipation and thus hold great promise for future electronics and spintronics with low energy consumption. However, spin polarization of chiral edge modes has never been established in experiments. In this work, we theoretically study spin polarization of chiral edge modes in the quantum anomalous Hall effect, based on both the effective model and more realistic tight-binding model constructed from the first principles calculations. We find that spin polarization can be manipulated by tuning either a local gate voltage or the Fermi energy. We also propose to extract spin information of chiral edge modes by contacting the quantum anomalous Hall insulator to a ferromagnetic (FM) lead. The establishment of spin polarization of chiral edge modes, as well as the manipulation and detection in a fully electrical manner, will pave the way to the applications of the quantum anomalous Hall effect in spintronics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Reentrant quantum anomalous Hall effect with in-plane magnetic fields in HgMnTe quantum wells

Quantum anomalous Hall effect has been predicted in HgMnTe quantum wells with an out-of-plane magnetization of Mn atoms. However, since HgMnTe quantum wells are paramagnetic, an out-of-plane magnetic field is required to polarize magnetic moments of Mn atoms, which inevitably induces Landau levels and makes it difficult to identify the origin of the quantized Hall conductance experimentally. In this work, we study the quantum anomalous Hall effect in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field in Mn doped HgTe quantum wells. For a small out-of-plane magnetic field, the in-plane magnetic field can drive the system from a normal insulating state to a quantum anomalous Hall state. When the out-of-plane magnetic field is slightly above the transition point, the system shows a reentrant behavior of Hall conductance, varying from $-e^2/h$ to 0 and back to $-e^2/h$, with increasing in-plane magnetic fields. The reentrant quantum anomalous Hall effect originates from the interplay between the exchange coupling of magnetic moments and the direct Zeeman coupling of magnetic fields. The calculation incorporating Landau levels shows that there is no qualitative change of the reentrant behavior.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

In-plane Magnetization Induced Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect

In a two-dimensional electron gas, the quantized Hall conductance can be induced by a strong magnetic field, known as the quantum Hall effect, and it can also result from the strong exchange coupling of magnetic ions, dubbed as the "quantum anomalous Hall effect". The quantum Hall effect requires the out-of-plane magnetic field, and similarly, it is commonly believed that the magnetization should be out-of-plane for the quantum anomalous Hall effect. In the present work, we find this condition is not necessary and predict that the quantum anomalous Hall effect can also be induced by the purely in-plane magnetization in two realistic systems, including Bi$_2$Te$_3$ thin film with magnetic doping and HgMnTe quantum wells with shear strains, when all the reflection symmetries are broken. An experimental setup is proposed to confirm this effect, the observation of which will pave the way to search for the quantum anomalous Hall effect in a wider range of materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Transverse force generated by an electric field and transverse charge imbalance in spin-orbit coupled systems

We use linear response theory to study the transverse force generated by an external electric field and hence possible charge Hall effect in spin-orbit coupled systems. In addition to the Lorentz force that is parallel to the electric field, we find that the transverse force perpendicular to the applied electric field may not vanish in a system with an anisotropic energy dispersion. Surprisingly, in contrast to the previous results, the transverse force generated by the electric field does not depend on the spin current, but in general, it is related to the second derivative of energy dispersion only. Furthermore, we find that the transverse force does not vanish in the Rashba-Dresselhaus system. Therefore, the non-vanishing transverse force acts as a driving force and results in charge imbalance at the edges of the sample. The estimated ratio of the Hall voltage to the longitudinal voltage is $\sim 10^{-3}$. The disorder effect is also considered in the study of the Rashba-Dresselhaus system. We find that the transverse force vanishes in the presence of impurities in this system because the vertex correction and the anomalous velocity of the electron accidently cancel each other.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗