Topological Charge/spin density Wave in InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells under an In-plane Magnetic Field

Lun-Hui Hu, Chih-Chieh Chen, Chao-Xing Liu, Fu-Chun Zhang, Yi Zhou

Published 2017-02-07Version 1

We study interaction effect of quantum spin Hall state in InAs/GaSb quantum wells under an in-plane magnetic field by using the self-consistent mean field theory. We construct a phase diagram as a function of intra-layer and inter-layer interactions, and identify two novel phases, a charge/spin density wave phase and an exciton condensate phase. The charge/spin density wave phase is topologically non-trivial with helical edge transport at the boundary, while the exciton condensate phase is topologically trivial. The Zeeman effect is strongly renormalized due to interaction in certain parameter regimes of the system, leading to a much smaller g-factor, which may stabilize the helical edge transport.