Anomalous Temperature Dependence of Quantum Correction to the Conductivity of Magnetic Topological Insulators

Abstract

Quantum transport in magnetic topological insulators reveals a strong interplay between magnetism and topology of electronic band structures. A recent experiment on magnetically doped topological insulator Bi 2 Se 3 thin films showed the anomalous temperature dependence of the magnetoconductivity while their field dependence presents a clear signature of weak antilocalization [Tkac et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 036406 (2019)]. Here, we demonstrate that the tiny mass of the surface electrons induced by the bulk magnetization leads to a temperature-dependent correction to the π Berry phase and generates a decoherence mechanism to the phase coherence length of the surface electrons. As a consequence, the quantum correction to conductivity can exhibit nonmonotonic behavior by decreasing the temperature. This effect is attributed to the close relation of the Berry phase and quantum interference of the topological surface electrons in quantum topological materials.