Breakdown of the quantum anomalous Hall effect under microwave drives
Researchers investigated how microwave fields cause Quantum Anomalous Hall (QAH) insulators to lose their zero-resistance state by measuring resistance changes in RF devices made from V-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 films. They found that heating of electron-hole puddles under microwave irradiation triggers hopping transport. The study models this using Joule heating and predicts breakdown thresholds decrease with frequency as 1/√ω.