Evolution of surface states of antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 with tuning the surface magnetization

Abstract

Abstract The interplay between magnetism and topologically non-trivial electronic states is an important subject in condensed matter physics. Recently, the stoichiometric intrinsic magnetic material MnBi2Te4 provides an ideal platform to study the magnetic topological phenomena, such as quantum anomalous Hall effect, axion insulator state, topological magnetoelectric effect. However, it is still controversial whether the topological surface state in the (111) plane is gapped or not. Here, we develop an effective method to study different surface magnetizations based on first-principles calculations. Then we investigate the band dispersions, the Fermi surfaces (FSs), the quasiparticle interferences (QPIs) and the spin texture of topological surface states of MnBi2Te4 with tuning the surface magnetization. We find that the surface magnetization has significant effects on the surface states. Our results also indicate that the symmetry breaking of FSs and QPIs may be a useful way to determine the possible surface magnetization of MnBi2Te4.