Disorder-enhanced layer Hall effect in a magnetic sandwich heterostructure

The layer Hall effect is a type of Hall effect where electrons on the top and bottom layers deflect in opposite directions. In this paper, we investigate the disorder effects on the layer Hall effect in a magnetic sandwich heterostructure that supports the axion insulator and normal insulator phases. We demonstrate that the layer Hall effect in the axion insulator phase is robust against weak disorder. Most interestingly, we find that the layer Hall effect in the normal insulator phase is significantly enhanced with increasing disorder strength. Theoretically, the disorder-enhanced layer Hall effect at weak disorder is explained by using the Born approximation. Experimentally, we suggest the disorder-enhanced layer Hall effect could be detected by applying a perpendicular electric field.