Evolution of the Electronic Structure of Ultrathin MnBiTe Films.

Ultrathin films of intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBiTe exhibit fascinating quantum properties such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect and the axion insulator state. In this work, we systematically investigate the evolution of the electronic structure of MnBiTe thin films. With increasing film thickness, the electronic structure changes from an insulator type with a large energy gap to one with in-gap topological surface states, which is, however, still in drastic contrast to the bulk material. By surface doping of alkali-metal atoms, a Rashba split band gradually emerges and hybridizes with topological surface states, which not only reconciles the puzzling difference between the electronic structures of the bulk and thin-film MnBiTe but also provides an interesting platform to establish Rashba ferromagnet that is attractive for (quantum) anomalous Hall effect. Our results provide important insights into the understanding and engineering of the intriguing quantum properties of MnBiTe thin films.