Antiferromagnetic Chern Insulators in Noncentrosymmetric Systems

Kun Jiang, Sen Zhou, Xi Dai, and Ziqiang Wang
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 157205 – Published 13 April 2018
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Abstract

We investigate a new class of topological antiferromagnetic (AF) Chern insulators driven by electronic interactions in two-dimensional systems without inversion symmetry. Despite the absence of a net magnetization, AF Chern insulators (AFCI) possess a nonzero Chern number C and exhibit the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE). Their existence is guaranteed by the bifurcation of the boundary line of Weyl points between a quantum spin Hall insulator and a topologically trivial phase with the emergence of AF long-range order. As a concrete example, we study the phase structure of the honeycomb lattice Kane-Mele model as a function of the inversion-breaking ionic potential and the Hubbard interaction. We find an easy z axis C=1 AFCI phase and a spin-flop transition to a topologically trivial xy plane collinear antiferromagnet. We propose experimental realizations of the AFCI and QAHE in correlated electron materials and cold atom systems.

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  • Received 7 November 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.157205

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Kun Jiang1,2,3, Sen Zhou2, Xi Dai3, and Ziqiang Wang1,3

  • 1Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA
  • 2CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 3Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

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Issue

Vol. 120, Iss. 15 — 13 April 2018

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