Analytical solution for the surface states of the antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4

Recently, the intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 has attracted great attention. It has an out-of-plane antiferromagnetic order, which is believed to open a sizable energy gap in the surface states. This gap, however, was not always observable in the latest angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments. To address this issue, we analytically derive an effective model for the two-dimensional (2D) surface states by starting from a three-dimensional (3D) Hamiltonian for bulk MnBi2Te4 and taking into account the spatial profile of the bulk magnetization. Our calculations suggest that the diminished surface gap may be caused by a much smaller and more localized intralayer ferromagnetic order. In addition, we calculate the spatial distribution and penetration depth of the surface states, which indicates that the surface states are mainly embedded in the first two septuple layers from the terminating surface. From our analytical results, the influence of the bulk parameters on the surface states can be found explicitly. Furthermore, we derive a k⋅p model for MnBi2Te4 thin films and show the oscillation of the Chern number between odd and even septuple layers. Our results will be helpful for the ongoing explorations of the MnBixTey family.