150 research outputs found
Robust surface electronic properties of topological insulators: Bi2Te3 films grown by molecular beam epitaxy
The surface electronic properties of the important topological insulator
Bi2Te3 are shown to be robust under an extended surface preparation procedure
which includes exposure to atmosphere and subsequent cleaning and
recrystallization by an optimized in-situ sputter-anneal procedure under ultra
high vacuum conditions. Clear Dirac-cone features are displayed in
high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectra from the resulting
samples, indicating remarkable insensitivity of the topological surface state
to cleaning-induced surface roughness.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Disentangling surface and bulk transport in topological-insulator - junctions
By combining -type and -type
topological insulators, vertically stacked - junctions can be formed,
allowing to position the Fermi level into the bulk band gap and also tune
between - and -type surface carriers. Here we use low-temperature
magnetotransport measurements to probe the surface and bulk transport modes in
a range of vertical heterostructures with varying
relative thicknesses of the top and bottom layers. With increasing thickness of
the layer we observe a change from - to -type
behavior via a specific thickness where the Hall signal is immeasurable.
Assuming that the the bulk and surface states contribute in parallel, we can
calculate and reproduce the dependence of the Hall and longitudinal components
of resistivity on the film thickness. This highlights the role played by the
bulk conduction channels which, importantly, cannot be probed using surface
sensitive spectroscopic techniques. Our calculations are then buttressed by a
semi-classical Boltzmann transport theory which rigorously shows the vanishing
of the Hall signal. Our results provide crucial experimental and theoretical
insights into the relative roles of the surface and bulk in the vertical
topological - junctions.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
In-plane anisotropy of electrical transport in YTbBaCuO films
We fabricate high-quality c-axis oriented epitaxial YBaCuO
films with 15% of yttrium atoms replaced by terbium (YTBCO) and study their
electrical properties. The Tb substitution reduces the charge carrier density
resulting in increased resistivity and decreased critical current density
compared to the pure YBaCuO films. The electrical properties of
the YTBCO films show an in-plane anisotropy in both the superconducting and
normal state providing evidence for the twin-free film. Unexpectedly, the
resistive transition of the bridges also demonstrates the in-plane anisotropy
that can be explained within the framework of Tinkham's model of the resistive
transition and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) model depending on the
sample parameters. We consider YTBCO films to be a promising platform for both
the fundamental research on the BKT transition in the cuprate superconductors
and for the fabrication of devices with high kinetic inductance
Coherent ultrafast spin-dynamics probed in three dimensional topological insulators
Topological insulators are candidates to open up a novel route in spin based
electronics. Different to traditional ferromagnetic materials, where the
carrier spin-polarization and magnetization are based on the exchange
interaction, the spin properties in topological insulators are based on the
coupling of spin- and orbit interaction connected to its momentum. Specific
ways to control the spin-polarization with light have been demonstrated: the
energy momentum landscape of the Dirac cone provides spin-momentum locking of
the charge current and its spin. The directionality of spin and momentum, as
well as control with light has been demonstrated. Here we demonstrate a
coherent femtosecond control of spin-polarization for states in the valence
band at around the Dirac cone.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Room temperature high frequency transport of Dirac fermions in epitaxially grown Sb_2Te_3 based topological insulators
We report on the observation of photogalvanic effects in epitaxially grown
Sb_2Te_3 three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TI). We show that
asymmetric scattering of Dirac electrons driven back and forth by the terahertz
electric field results in a dc electric current. Due to the "symmetry
filtration" the dc current is generated in the surface electrons only and
provides an opto-electronic access to probe the electric transport in TI,
surface domains orientation and details of electron scattering even in 3D TI at
room temperature where conventional surface electron transport is usually
hindered by the high carrier density in the bulk
Influence of Te-doping on catalyst-free VS InAs nanowires
We report on the growth of Te-doped catalyst-free InAs nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy on silicon (111) substrates. Changes in the wire morphology, i.e. a decrease in length and an increase in diameter have been observed with rising doping level. Crystal structure analysis based on transmission electron microscopy as well as X-ray diffraction reveals an enhancement of the zinc blende/(wurtzite+zinc blende) segment ratio if Te is provided during the growth process. Furthermore, electrical two-point measurements show that increased Te-doping causes a gain in conductivity. Two comparable growth series, differing only in As-partial pressure by about 1 × 10−5 Torr while keeping all other parameters constant, were analyzed for different Te-doping levels. Their comparison suggests that the crystal structure is strongly affected and the conductivity gain is more distinct for wires grown at a comparably higher As-partial pressure
Opto-Electronic Characterization of Three Dimensional Topological Insulators
We demonstrate that the terahertz/infrared radiation induced photogalvanic
effect, which is sensitive to the surface symmetry and scattering details, can
be applied to study the high frequency conductivity of the surface states in
(Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 based three dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TI). In
particular, measuring the polarization dependence of the photogalvanic current
and scanning with a micrometre sized beam spot across the sample, provides
access to (i) topographical inhomogeneity's in the electronic properties of the
surface states and (ii) the local domain orientation. An important advantage of
the proposed method is that it can be applied to study TIs at room temperature
and even in materials with a high electron density of bulk carriers.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
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