Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators
Quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators are materials with nontrivial topological properties, characterized by helical edge currents. In 2D strips, the application of a bias voltage along the edge generates a magnetization that can be measured using quantum sensors and magnetometry techniques. In this wo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ada634 |
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| author | Felipe A Pinto Ricardo C Heitzer Eitan Dvorquez Roberto Rodriguez Qiang Sun Andrew D Greentree Brant C Gibson Jerónimo R Maze |
| author_facet | Felipe A Pinto Ricardo C Heitzer Eitan Dvorquez Roberto Rodriguez Qiang Sun Andrew D Greentree Brant C Gibson Jerónimo R Maze |
| author_sort | Felipe A Pinto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators are materials with nontrivial topological properties, characterized by helical edge currents. In 2D strips, the application of a bias voltage along the edge generates a magnetization that can be measured using quantum sensors and magnetometry techniques. In this work, we calculate the magnetic field in the vicinity of the edge and explore the potential role of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond as local probes for the characterization of QSH edge states in topological insulators. We characterize the magnetic field near the edges produced by both electron currents and spin accumulation at the edge. We focus on identifying the position from the edge at which the effects of spin accumulation become detectable. We observe that a larger gap between the conduction and valence bands, along with a lower Fermi velocity, results in a stronger magnetic field, with the detectable spin accumulation being more concentrated near the edge. Conversely, a smaller gap results in a slight reduction in the magnetic field magnitude, but the field associated with spin accumulation becomes detectable further from the edge. This work provides insights that could be useful for the characterization of topological materials and the development of novel electro-optical devices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-eb587366f48b4120bdccd11c3b240c78 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj-art-eb587366f48b4120bdccd11c3b240c782025-01-20T11:54:14ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302025-01-0127101300810.1088/1367-2630/ada634Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulatorsFelipe A Pinto0https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1904-2014Ricardo C Heitzer1https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2411-7019Eitan Dvorquez2https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5926-6100Roberto Rodriguez3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8663-1318Qiang Sun4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4183-1260Andrew D Greentree5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3505-9163Brant C Gibson6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7109-2796Jerónimo R Maze7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0751-9182Department of Physics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Vicuña Mackenna Avenue 4860, 8940000 Santiago, ChileDepartment of Physics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Vicuña Mackenna Avenue 4860, 8940000 Santiago, ChileDepartment of Physics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Vicuña Mackenna Avenue 4860, 8940000 Santiago, ChileDepartment of Physics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Vicuña Mackenna Avenue 4860, 8940000 Santiago, ChileARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics, RMIT University , Melbourne, VIC 3001, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics, RMIT University , Melbourne, VIC 3001, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Biophotonics, RMIT University , Melbourne, VIC 3001, AustraliaDepartment of Physics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Vicuña Mackenna Avenue 4860, 8940000 Santiago, ChileQuantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators are materials with nontrivial topological properties, characterized by helical edge currents. In 2D strips, the application of a bias voltage along the edge generates a magnetization that can be measured using quantum sensors and magnetometry techniques. In this work, we calculate the magnetic field in the vicinity of the edge and explore the potential role of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond as local probes for the characterization of QSH edge states in topological insulators. We characterize the magnetic field near the edges produced by both electron currents and spin accumulation at the edge. We focus on identifying the position from the edge at which the effects of spin accumulation become detectable. We observe that a larger gap between the conduction and valence bands, along with a lower Fermi velocity, results in a stronger magnetic field, with the detectable spin accumulation being more concentrated near the edge. Conversely, a smaller gap results in a slight reduction in the magnetic field magnitude, but the field associated with spin accumulation becomes detectable further from the edge. This work provides insights that could be useful for the characterization of topological materials and the development of novel electro-optical devices.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ada634topological insulatorsQSH effectNV magnetometryquantum sensing |
| spellingShingle | Felipe A Pinto Ricardo C Heitzer Eitan Dvorquez Roberto Rodriguez Qiang Sun Andrew D Greentree Brant C Gibson Jerónimo R Maze Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators New Journal of Physics topological insulators QSH effect NV magnetometry quantum sensing |
| title | Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators |
| title_full | Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators |
| title_fullStr | Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators |
| title_full_unstemmed | Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators |
| title_short | Magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin Hall insulators |
| title_sort | magnetic field characterization of edge currents in quantum spin hall insulators |
| topic | topological insulators QSH effect NV magnetometry quantum sensing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ada634 |
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