In-plane magnetization orientation driven topological phase transition in OsCl3 monolayer

Abstract The quantum anomalous Hall effect resulting from the in-plane magnetization in the OsCl 3 monolayer is shown to exhibit different electronic topological phases determined by the crystal symmetries and magnetism. In this Chern insulator, the Os-atoms form a two dimensional planar honeycomb structure with an easy-plane ferromagnetic configuration and the required non-adiabatic paths to tune the topology of electronic structure exist for specific magnetic orientations based on mirror symmetries of the system. Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, these tunable phases are identified by changing the orientation of the magnetic moments. We argue that in contrast to the buckled system, here the Cl-ligands bring non-trivial topology into the system by breaking the in-plane mirror symmetry. The interplay between the magnetic anisotropy and electronic band-topology changes the Chern number and hence the topological phases. Our DFT study is corroborated with comprehensive analysis of relevant symmetries as well as a detailed explanation of topological phase transitions using a generic tight binding model.