Magnetoelectric effect of a conducting sphere near a planar topological insulator
At a Glance
Section titled âAt a Glanceâ| Metadata | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 2019-10-30 |
| Journal | Physical review. A/Physical review, A |
| Authors | A. MartĂn-Ruiz, Omar RodrĂguez-Tzompantzi, J. R. Maze, Luis F. Urrutia |
| Institutions | Universidad AutĂłnoma de la Ciudad de MĂ©xico, Pontificia Universidad CatĂłlica de Chile |
| Citations | 9 |
Abstract
Section titled âAbstractâWhen time-reversal symmetry is broken on its surface, topological insulators exhibit a magnetoelectric response which is described by axion electrodynamics. A direct consequence of this theory is the appearance of a magnetic field that resembles the one produced by a magnetic image monopole when a point-like electric charge is located near the surface of the material. In this paper we investigate the more realistic problem when the point-like charge is replaced by a finite size sphere at constant potential. We calculate the electromagnetic fields using the potential formulation in a particular bispherical coordinate system. We find that the electromagnetic fields can be interpreted in terms of point electric and image magnetic charges as if the medium were the vacuum. As a manifestation of the magnetoelectric effect, we highlight the resulting magnetic field, which we analyze in detail along the symmetry axis, since such estimates could be useful in evaluating the experimental possibility of its measurement via sensible magnetometers. Our numerical estimates show that the proposed setup provides a magnetic field strength in the range of 10-100 mG, which is attainable with present day sensitivities in NV center-diamond magnetometers, for example.
Tech Support
Section titled âTech SupportâOriginal Source
Section titled âOriginal SourceâReferences
Section titled âReferencesâ- 1970 - The Electrodynamics of Magneto-Electric Media
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- 2018 - Berry Phases in Electronic Structure Theory [Crossref]