UCLA

Quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) is the zero-field version of the quantum Hall effect which shows dissipationless chiral edge electron transport and quantized Hall resistance without the help of external magnetic field. In this Dissertation, we study the growth of magnetic topological insulator (MTI) Cr-doped (BiSb)2Te3 thin film, which is the host of the QAH states, using molecular beam epitaxy. We report the first observation of QAHE in a milli-meter sized device with the thin film thickness beyond the two-dimension (2D) limit. In addition, by controlling the thin film thickness down to the 2D limit, we observe a metal-to-insulator transition behavior due to the hybridization effect introduced by the vertical quantum confinement.

We further investigate the temperature limiting factors of QAHE in the Cr-doped (BiSb)2Te3 system by studying the thickness and doping effects. We identify that for thin film thickness larger than 6 quintuple layers (QLs), the limiting factor is the overlap of Fermi level with the trivial bulk band. For thin film thickness equal to 6 QLs, weak ferromagnetism and pronounced superparamagnetism are the temperature limiting factors. However, modulation doping technique can significantly strengthen the ferromagnetism at this thickness. In addition, the metal-to-insulator transition behavior can also be tuned according to the doping profile of the thin film which can potentially affect the phase transition behavior in this material system.

To manipulate the QAH states, we investigate the heterogenous integration of the QAH insulator or TI with antiferromagnets. We first study the QAH insulator/Cr2O3 bilayer structure and realize the QAHE on a magnetically ordered system for the first time. We identify the positive exchange bias in this structure and discover the magnetic coupling between the two material systems using polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR). We then study the undoped TI/CrSe heterostructure and realize the antiferromagnet induced magnetic proximity effect in the TI layer confirmed by both PNR and X-ray magnetic dichroism techniques. We also discover the interface-dependent proximity behavior in the heterostructure that may help our understanding towards high temperature and functional QAH states.