TY  - JOUR
A1  - Dziom, V.
A1  - Shuvaev, A.
A1  - Pimenov, A.
A1  - Astakhov, G.V.
A1  - Ames, C.
A1  - Bendias, K.
A1  - Böttcher, J.
A1  - Tkachov, G.
A1  - Hankiewicz, E.M.
A1  - Brüne, C.
A1  - Buhmann, H.
A1  - Molenkamp, L.W.
T1  - Observation of the universal magnetoelectric effect in a 3D topological insulator
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - The electrodynamics of topological insulators (TIs) is described by modified Maxwell’s equations, which contain additional terms that couple an electric field to a magnetization and a magnetic field to a polarization of the medium, such that the coupling coefficient is quantized in odd multiples of α/4π per surface. Here we report on the observation of this so-called topological magnetoelectric effect. We use monochromatic terahertz (THz) spectroscopy of TI structures equipped with a semitransparent gate to selectively address surface states. In high external magnetic fields, we observe a universal Faraday rotation angle equal to the fine structure constant α=e\(^{2}\)/2E\(_{0}\)hc (in SI units) when a linearly polarized THz radiation of a certain frequency passes through the two surfaces of a strained HgTe 3D TI. These experiments give insight into axion electrodynamics of TIs and may potentially be used for a metrological definition of the three basic physical constants.
KW  - topological matter
KW  - infrared spectroscopy
KW  - topological insulators
KW  - topological magnetoelectric effect
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170875
VL  - 8
IS  - 15197
ER  -