The van der Waals antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi₂Te₄ represents a promising platform for exploring the layer-dependent magnetism and topological states of matter. Recently observed discrepancies between magnetic and transport properties have aroused controversies concerning the topological nature of MnBi₂Te₄ in the ground state. In this article, we demonstrate that fabrication can induce mismatched even-odd layer dependent magnetotransport in few-layer MnBi₂Te₄. We perform a comprehensive study of the magnetotransport properties in 6- and 7-septuple-layer MnBi₂Te₄, and reveal that both even- and odd-number-layer device can show zero Hall plateau phenomena in zero magnetic field. Importantly, a statistical survey of the optical contrast in more than 200 MnBi₂Te₄ flakes reveals that the zero Hall plateau in odd-number-layer devices arises from the reduction of the effective thickness during the fabrication, a factor that was rarely noticed in previous studies of 2D materials. Our finding not only provides an explanation to the controversies regarding the discrepancy of the even-odd layer dependent magnetotransport in MnBi₂Te₄, but also highlights the critical issues concerning the fabrication and characterization of 2D material devices.

范德华反铁磁拓扑绝缘体 MnBi ₂ Te ₄代表了探索层相关磁性和物质拓扑态的有前途的平台。最近观察到的磁性和输运性质之间的差异引起了关于基态MnBi ₂ Te ₄拓扑性质的争议。在本文中，我们证明制造可以在少层 MnBi ₂ Te ₄中引起不匹配的偶数-奇数层相关的磁输运。我们对6层和7层MnBi ₂ Te ₄的磁输运特性进行了全面的研究，发现偶数层和奇数层器件都可以在零磁场下表现出零霍尔平台现象。重要的是，对 200 多个 MnBi ₂ Te ₄薄片的光学对比度进行的统计调查表明，奇数层器件中的零霍尔平台是由于制造过程中有效厚度的减小而产生的，这是一个很少被注意到的因素。以前对二维材料的研究。我们的发现不仅为有关MnBi ₂ Te ₄中奇偶层磁输运差异的争议提供了解释，而且还强调了有关二维材料器件的制造和表征的关键问题。