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Observation of giant non-reciprocal charge transport from quantum Hall states in a topological insulator

Nature Materials (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Symmetry breaking in quantum materials is of great importance and can lead to non-reciprocal charge transport. Topological insulators provide a unique platform to study non-reciprocal charge transport due to their surface states, especially quantum Hall states under an external magnetic field. Here we report the observation of non-reciprocal charge transport mediated by quantum Hall states in devices composed of the intrinsic topological insulator Sn–Bi1.1Sb0.9Te2S, which is attributed to asymmetric scattering between quantum Hall states and Dirac surface states. A giant non-reciprocal coefficient of up to 2.26 × 105 A−1 is found. Our work not only reveals the properties of non-reciprocal charge transport of quantum Hall states in topological insulators but also paves the way for future electronic devices.

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Fig. 1: QH-mediated non-reciprocal charge transport in Sn-BSTS device.
Fig. 2: Gate-dependent non-reciprocal charge transport in Sn-BSTS device.
Fig. 3: Magnetic-field-dependent non-reciprocal resistance in Sn-BSTS device.
Fig. 4: Temperature-dependent non-reciprocal charge transport in Sn-BSTS device.
Fig. 5: Origin of non-reciprocal resistance.

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All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the Article and its Supplementary Information. Additional data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (no. 2022YFA1402404 to F.S. and X.W.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 92161201 to F.S., T2221003 to F.S., 12374043 to S.Z., T2394473 to X.W., T2394470 to X.W., 12322402 to R.W., 62274085 to X.W., 12104220 to Y.Q., 12025404 to F.S. and 61822403 to X.W.) and the Innovation Program for Quantum Science and Technology (grant no. 2021ZD0302800 to R.W.).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Chunfeng Li, Rui Wang, Shuai Zhang, Yuyuan Qin.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, and School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Chunfeng Li, Rui Wang, Shuai Zhang, Yuyuan Qin, Zhe Ying, Boyuan Wei, Zheng Dai, Fengyi Guo, Wei Chen, Baigeng Wang & Fengqi Song

  2. Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Materials, State Key Laboratory of Spintronics Devices and Technologies, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Chunfeng Li, Rong Zhang & Xuefeng Wang

  3. Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei, China

    Rui Wang

  4. Department of Physics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Rong Zhang

  5. Institute of Atom Manufacturing, Nanjing University, Suzhou, China

    Fengqi Song

Authors
  1. Chunfeng Li
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Contributions

S.Z., X.W. and F.S. supervised the project. C.L. fabricated the devices. C.L. and S.Z. carried out the transport measurement. R.W. devised the theory. S.Z., R.W., C.L, Y.Q., X.W. and F.S. performed the analysis and wrote the manuscript with contributions from all the authors.

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Correspondence to Shuai Zhang, Xuefeng Wang or Fengqi Song.

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Nature Materials thanks Michael Fuhrer and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Li, C., Wang, R., Zhang, S. et al. Observation of giant non-reciprocal charge transport from quantum Hall states in a topological insulator. Nat. Mater. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-01874-4

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