Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Enhanced Magnetic Response by Spin-Orbit Coupling

We show that the spin Hall conductivity in insulators is related with a magnetic susceptibility representing the strength of the spin-orbit coupling. We use this relationship as a guiding principle to search real materials showing quantum spin Hall effect. As a result, we theoretically predict that bismuth will show the quantum spin Hall effect, both by calculating the helical edge states, and by showing the non-triviality of the Z_2 topological number, and propose possible experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Bi(111) thin film with insulating interior but metallic surfaces

The electrical conductance of molecular beam epitaxial Bi on BaF2(111) was measured as a function of both film thickness (4-540 nm) and temperature (5-300 K). Unlike bulk Bi as a prototype semimetal, the Bi thin films up to 90 nm are found to be insulating in the interiors but metallic on the surfaces. This result has not only resolved unambiguously the long controversy about the existence of semimetal-semiconductor transition in Bi thin film but also provided a straightforward interpretation for the long-puzzled temperature dependence of the resistivity of Bi thin films, which in turn might suggest some potential applications in spintronics

Phase transition between the quantum spin Hall and insulator phases in 3D: emergence of a topological gapless phase

Phase transitions between the quantum spin Hall and the insulator phases in three dimensions are studied. We find that in inversion-asymmetric systems there appears a gapless phase between the quantum spin Hall and insulator phases in three dimensions, which is in contrast with the two-dimensional case. Existence of this gapless phase stems from a topological nature of gapless points (diabolical points) in three dimensions, but not in two dimensions.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Conductance of a STM contact on the surface of a thin film

The conductance of a contact, having a radius smaller than the Fermi wave length, on the surface of a thin metal film is investigated theoretically. It is shown that quantization of the electron energy spectrum in the film leads to a step-like dependence of differential conductance G(V) as a function of applied bias eV. The distance between neighboring steps in eV equals the energy level spacing due to size quantization. We demonstrate that a study of G(V) for both signs of the voltage maps the spectrum of energy levels above and below Fermi surface in scanning tunneling experiments.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Size-dependent properties of dithallium selenide

We report on size-dependent properties of dithallium selenide, Tl2Se. We have carried out a comparative nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study of Tl2Se nanorods and bulk samples, measuring NMR spectra and spin-lattice relaxation rate of 203Tl and 205Tl isotopes. Though bulk Tl2Se was reported to be a metal, the Korringa-like spin-lattice relaxation behavior is observed only at low temperatures and is transformed to an activation regime above ~200 K. This finding is interpreted assuming a two-band model in the semimetallic compound. Our measurements show significant difference in the Knight shift and indirect nuclear exchange coupling for the bulk and nanorod Tl2Se samples, reflecting noticeable distinction in their electronic structure. At that, Tl2Se nanorods are semiconductors and exhibit a characteristic activation behavior in the spin-lattice relaxation rate due to the thermal excitation of carriers to the conduction band. The obtained size dependence of the Tl2Se properties is interpreted in terms of the semimetal-semiconductor transformation due to the quantum confinement.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Magnetic-field-dependent zero-bias diffusive anomaly in Pb oxide-n-InAs structures: Coexistence of two- and three-dimensional states

The results of experimental and theoretical studies of zero-bias anomaly (ZBA) in the Pb-oxide-n-InAs tunnel structures in magnetic field up to 6T are presented. A specific feature of the structures is a coexistence of the 2D and 3D states at the Fermi energy near the semiconductor surface. The dependence of the measured ZBA amplitude on the strength and orientation of the applied magnetic field is in agreement with the proposed theoretical model. According to this model, electrons tunnel into 2D states, and move diffusively in the 2D layer, whereas the main contribution to the screening comes from 3D electrons.Comment: 8 double-column pages, REVTeX, 9 eps figures embedded with epsf, published versio

Quantum Conductance in Semimetallic Bismuth Nanocontacts

Electronic transport properties of bismuth nanocontacts are analyzed by means of a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. The subquantum steps observed in the conductance versus elongation curves give evidence of atomic rearrangements in the contact. The underlying quantum nature of the conductance reveals itself through peaks in the conductance histograms. The shape of the conductance curves at 77 K is well described by a simple gliding mechanism for the contact evolution during elongation. The strikingly different behaviour at 4 K suggests a charge carrier transition from light to heavy ones as the contact cross section becomes sufficiently small.Comment: 5 pages including 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Electronic Transport in a Three-dimensional Network of 1-D Bismuth Quantum Wires

The resistance R of a high density network of 6 nm diameter Bi wires in porous Vycor glass is studied in order to observe its expected semiconductor behavior. R increases from 300 K down to 0.3 K. Below 4 K, where R varies approximately as ln(1/T), the order-of-magnitude of the resistance rise, as well as the behavior of the magnetoresistance are consistent with localization and electron-electron interaction theories of a one-dimensional disordered conductor in the presence of strong spin-orbit scattering. We show that this behaviour and the surface-enhanced carrier density may mask the proposed semimetal-to-semiconductor transition for quantum Bi wires.Comment: 19 pages total, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.