2014/11/30 by Yea‐Lee Lee, Yea-Lee Lee, Hee Chul Park +3 · 1 citation
Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Axion #Computer science #Condensed matter physics #Crystal (programming language) #Dipole #Electric field #Graphene research and applications #Insulator (electricity) #Magnetic field #Mathematics #Optoelectronics #Physics #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological insulator #Topology (electrical circuits) #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1515664112
arxiv created 2014/12/15 · openalex publication_date 2015/08/31 · arxiv updated 2016/02/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Because topological surface states of a single-crystal topological insulator can exist on all surfaces with different crystal orientations enclosing the crystal, mutual interactions among those states contiguous to each other through edges can lead to unique phenomena inconceivable in normal insulators. Here we show, based on a first-principles approach, that the difference in the work function between adjacent surfaces with different crystal-face orientations generates a built-in electric field around facet edges of a prototypical topological insulator such as Bi2Se3. Owing to the topological magnetoelectric coupling for a given broken time-reversal symmetry in the crystal, the electric field, in turn, forces effective magnetic dipoles to accumulate along the edges, realizing the facet-edge magnetic ordering. We demonstrate that the predicted magnetic ordering is in fact a manifestation of the axion electrodynamics in real solids.