Valley-Polarized Quantum Anomalous Hall Phase in Bilayer Graphene with Layer-Dependent Proximity Effects

Abstract: Realizations of some topological phases in two-dimensional systems rely on the challenge of jointly incorporating spin-orbit and magnetic exchange interactions. Here, we predict the formation and control of a fully valley-polarized quantum anomalous Hall effect in bilayer graphene, by separately imprinting spin-orbit and magnetic proximity effects in different layers. This results in varying spin splittings for the conduction and valence bands, which gives rise to a topological gap at a single Dirac cone. The topological phase can be controlled by a gate voltage and switched between valleys by reversing the sign of the exchange interaction. By performing quantum transport calculations in disordered systems, the chirality and resilience of the valley-polarized edge state are demonstrated. Our findings provide a promising route to engineer a topological phase that could enable low-power electronic devices and valleytronic applications.