Band structure of a three-dimensional topological insulator quantum wire in the presence of a magnetic field

By means of a numerical diagonalization approach, we calculate the electronic structure of a three-dimensional topological insulator (3DTI) quantum wire (QW) in the presence of a magnetic field. The QW can be viewed as a 3DTI film with lateral surfaces, when its rectangular cross section has a large aspect ratio. Our calculation indicates that nonchiral edge states emerge because of the confined states at the lateral surfaces. These states completely cover the valence band region among the Landau levels, which reasonably account for the absence of the nu < -1 quantum Hall effect in the relevant experimental works. In an ultrathin 3DTI film, inversion between the electron-type and hole-type bands occurs, which leads to the so-called pseudo-spin Hall effect. In a 3DTI QW with a square cross section, a tilting magnetic field can establish well-defined Landau levels in all four surfaces. In such a case, the quantum Hall edge states are localized at the square corners, characterized by the linearly crossing one-dimensional band profile. And they can be shifted between the adjacent corners by simply rotating the magnetic field.