Substrate Effect on Electronic Band Structure and Topological Property in Monolayer V2O3 Magnetic Topological Insulator

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles calculations to explore how different substrates affect the electronic and topological properties of monolayer V2O3, a magnetic topological insulator, highlighting substrate engineering's role in realizing quantum anomalous Hall states.

Contribution

It systematically analyzes substrate effects on V2O3's topological properties, revealing how non-magnetic substrates preserve the QAH phase while ferromagnetic ones disrupt it.

Findings

Non-magnetic substrates like h-BN preserve the QAH phase with C=1.

Ferromagnetic substrates shift the Fermi level, destroying topological order.

Substrate choice is crucial for experimental realization of topological edge states.

Abstract

Monolayer V2O3, a two-dimensional magnetic topological insulator with intrinsic ferromagnetic order and a nontrivial band gap, offers a promising platform for realizing quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) states. Using first-principles density functional theory calculations, we systematically investigate the impact of substrate selection on its electronic and topological properties. By modeling heterostructures with van der Waals (vdW) substrates, we demonstrate that non-magnetic substrates such as h-BN preserve the QAH phase with a Chern number C = 1, maintaining gapless chiral edge states. In contrast, ferromagnetic substrates induce extra electrons, destroying the topological order by shifting the Fermi level. These findings establish substrate engineering as a pivotal strategy for experimental realization of dissipationless edge transport in V2O3-based vdW heterostructures, advancing their potential applications as low-power topological electronics.