Abstract
We show that edge-state transport in semiconductor-based quantum spin Hall systems is unexpectedly robust to magnetic fields. The origin for this robustness lies in an intrinsic suppression of the edge-state g-factor and the fact that the edge-state Dirac point is typically hidden in the valence band. A detailed k·p band-structure analysis reveals that both InAs/GaSb and HgTe/CdTe quantum wells exhibit such buried Dirac points for a wide range of well thicknesses. By simulating transport in a disordered system described within an effective model, we demonstrate that edge-state transport remains nearly quantized up to large magnetic fields, consistent with recent experiments.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 201404 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Physical Review B |
Volume | 98 |
Issue number | 20 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2018 |