Electrically tunable topological state in [111] perovskite materials with an antiferromagnetic exchange field

We propose a scheme of band engineering by means of staggered electric potential, antiferromagnetic exchange field and intrinsic spin–orbit coupling for electrons on a honeycomb lattice. With fine control on the degrees of freedom of spin, sublattice and valley, one can achieve a topological state with simultaneous non-zero charge and spin Chern numbers. With first principles calculations, we confirm that the scheme can be realized by material modification in perovskite G-type antiferromagnetic insulators grown along the [111] direction, where Dirac electrons from d orbits are achieved on an atomic sheet of a buckled honeycomb lattice. In a finite sample, this state provides a spin-polarized quantum edge current, robust to both non-magnetic and magnetic defects, with the spin polarization reversible by electric field, and is thus ideal for spintronics applications.