Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator of Composite Fermions

Abstract

We show that a weak hexagonal periodic potential could transform a two-dimensional electron gas with an even-denominator magnetic filling factor to a quantum anomalous Hall insulator of composite fermions, giving rise to fractionally quantized Hall effect. The system provides a realization of the Haldane honeycomb-net model, albeit in a composite fermion system. We further propose a trial wave function for the state, and numerically evaluate its relative stability against the competing Hofstadter state. Possible sets of experimental parameters are proposed.