Probing Berry Curvature in Magnetic Topological Insulators through Resonant Infrared Magnetic Circular Dichroism

Probing the quantum geometry and topology in condensed matter systems has relied heavily on static electronic transport experiments in magnetic fields. Yet, contact-free optical measurements have rarely been explored. Here, we report the observation of resonant magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) in the infrared range in thin film MnBi2Te4 exhibiting a spectral intensity that correlates with the anomalous Hall effect. Both phenomena emerge with a field-driven phase transition from an antiferromagnet to a canted ferromagnet. By theoretically relating the MCD to the anomalous Hall effect via Berry curvature for a metallic state, we show that this transition accompanies an abrupt onset of Berry curvature, signaling a topological phase transition from a topological insulator to a doped Chern insulator. Our density functional theory calculation suggests the MCD signal mainly originates from an optical transition at the Brillouin zone edge, hinting at a potential new source of Berry curvature away from the commonly considered Γ point. Our findings demonstrate a novel experimental approach for detecting Berry curvature through spectroscopy of the interband MCD, generally applicable to magnetic materials