- Ma, Eric Yue;
- Calvo, M Reyes;
- Wang, Jing;
- Lian, Biao;
- Mühlbauer, Mathias;
- Brüne, Christoph;
- Cui, Yong-Tao;
- Lai, Keji;
- Kundhikanjana, Worasom;
- Yang, Yongliang;
- Baenninger, Matthias;
- König, Markus;
- Ames, Christopher;
- Buhmann, Hartmut;
- Leubner, Philipp;
- Molenkamp, Laurens W;
- Zhang, Shou-Cheng;
- Goldhaber-Gordon, David;
- Kelly, Michael A;
- Shen, Zhi-Xun
The realization of quantum spin Hall effect in HgTe quantum wells is considered a milestone in the discovery of topological insulators. Quantum spin Hall states are predicted to allow current flow at the edges of an insulating bulk, as demonstrated in various experiments. A key prediction yet to be experimentally verified is the breakdown of the edge conduction under broken time-reversal symmetry. Here we first establish a systematic framework for the magnetic field dependence of electrostatically gated quantum spin Hall devices. We then study edge conduction of an inverted quantum well device under broken time-reversal symmetry using microwave impedance microscopy, and compare our findings to a non-inverted device. At zero magnetic field, only the inverted device shows clear edge conduction in its local conductivity profile, consistent with theory. Surprisingly, the edge conduction persists up to 9 T with little change. This indicates physics beyond simple quantum spin Hall model, including material-specific properties and possibly many-body effects.