Identifying Axion Insulator by Quantized Magnetoelectric Effect in Antiferromagnetic ${\mathrm{MnBi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ Tunnel Junction

Abstract

Intrinsic magnetic topological insulator ${\mathrm{MnBi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ is believed to be an axion insulator in its antiferromagnetic ground state. However, direct identification of axion insulators remains experimentally elusive because the observed vanishing Hall resistance, while indicating the onset of the axion field, is inadequate to distinguish the system from a trivial normal insulator. Using numerical Green's functions, we theoretically demonstrate the quantized magnetoelectric current in a tunnel junction of atomically thin ${\mathrm{MnBi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ sandwiched between two contacts, which is a smoking-gun signal that unambiguously confirms antiferromagnetic ${\mathrm{MnBi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{4}$ to be an axion insulator. Our predictions can be verified directly by experiments.