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Higher-order topological insulator is a recently discovered topological phase of matters with generalized bulk-boundary correspondence. Td-WTe2, a non-centrosymmetric type-II Weyl semimetal, is a promising candidate to reveal topological hinge excitation in an atomically thin regime. However, with initial theories and experiments focusing on localized one-dimensional conductance only, no experimental reports exist on how the spin orientations are distributed over the helical hinges—this is critical, yet one missing puzzle. Here, we employ the magneto- optic Kerr effect to directly visualize the spinful characteristics of the hinge states in a few- layer Td-WTe2. By examining the spin polarization of electrons injected from WTe2 to graphene under external magnetic fields, we conclude that WTe2 hosts a spinful and helical topological hinge state protected by the time-reversal symmetry. Our finding may invoke stimuli to extend the previous spinless models and further provide a fertile diagnosis to the higher-order topology and Weyl physics in multidimensional solids.

Rights:

• Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 International
  

Keyword: Higher-order topological insulators, spinful hinge states, magneto-optic Kerr effect

Date published: 2023-03-31

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Journal:

• Nature Communications (ISSN: 20411723) vol. 14 issue. 1 1801

Funding:

• National Research Foundation of Korea NRF-2020M3F3A2A03082472
• National Research Foundation of Korea 2017M3D1A1040828

Manuscript type: Publisher's version (Version of record)

MDR DOI:

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37482-0

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Updated at: 2025-02-15 12:30:58 +0900

Published on MDR: 2025-02-15 12:30:58 +0900