Related papers: Lifting the spin-momentum locking in ultra-thin to…
We study the three-dimensional topological insulator (Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_{x}$)$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ in its ultrathin limit i.e. when the thickness is of the same order as the surface state penetration depth. It is expected that in this limit a…
As the thickness of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) becomes comparable to the penetration depth of the surface states, quantum tunneling between surfaces turns their gapless Dirac electronic structure into a gapped…
We demonstrate evidences of electronic transport via topological Dirac surface states in a thin film of strained HgTe. At high perpendicular magnetic fields, we show that the electron transport reaches the quantum Hall regime with vanishing…
We study transport and optical properties of the surface states which lie in the bulk energy gap of a thin-film topological insulator. When the film thickness is comparable with the surface state decay length into the bulk, the tunneling…
We study spin conductivity of the surface states in a thin film of a topological insulator with Kubo formulas. Hybridization between the different sides of the film opens a gap at the Dirac point. We found that in the gapped region spin…
A pair of Dirac points (analogous to a vortex-antivortex pair) associated with opposite topological numbers (with $\pm\pi$ Berry phases) can be merged together through parameter tuning and annihilated to gap the Dirac spectrum, offering a…
In a topological insulator (TI) the character of electron transport varies from insulating in the interior of the material to metallic near its surface. Unlike, however, ordinary metals, conducting surface states in TIs are topologically…
Based on a combination of $k \cdot p$ theory, band topology analysis and electronic structure calculations, we predict the (111) thin films of the SnTe class of three-dimensional (3D) topological crystalline insulators realize the quantum…
We theoretically show that the coupling of inhomogeneous strains to the Dirac fermions of three-dimensional topological insulators (3DTI) in thin film geometries results in the occurrence of phase transitions between topologically distinct…
Nontrivial band topology along with magnetism leads to different novel quantum phases. When time-reversal-symmetry is broken in three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) by applying high enough magnetic field or proximity effect,…
We have designed three-dimensional models of topological insulator thin films, showing a tunability of the odd number of Dirac cones on opposite surfaces driven by the atomic-scale geometry at the boundaries. This enables creation of a…
Topological insulators represent a novel state of matter with surface charge carriers having a massless Dirac dispersion and locked helical spin polarization. Many exciting experiments have been proposed by theory, yet, their execution have…
A well known semiconductor Cd3As2 has reentered the spotlight due to its unique electronic structure and quantum transport phenomena as a topological Dirac semimetal. For elucidating and controlling its topological quantum state,…
It is crucial for the studies of the transport properties and quantum effects related to Dirac surface states of three-dimensional topological insulators (3D TIs) to be able to simultaneously tune the chemical potentials of both top and…
The massless Dirac fermions residing on the surface of three-dimensional topological insulators are protected from backscattering and cannot be localized by disorder, but such protection can be lifted in ultrathin films when the…
Thin films of topological insulators (TI) attract large attention because of expected topological effects from the inter-surface hybridization of Dirac points. However, these effects may be depleted by unexpectedly large energy smearing…
Two-dimensional topological insulators (2D TIs) are a highly desired quantum phase but few materials have demonstrated clear signatures of a 2D TI state. It has been predicted that 2D TIs can be created from thin films of three-dimensional…
Twisting the stacking of layered materials leads to rich new physics. A three dimensional (3D) topological insulator film host two dimensional gapless Dirac electrons on top and bottom surfaces, which, when the film is below some critical…
While some of the most elegant applications of topological insulators, such as quantum anomalous Hall effect, require the preservation of Dirac surface states in the presence of time-reversal symmetry breaking, other phenomena such as…
Three-dimensional topological insulators are a class of Dirac materials, wherein strong spin-orbit coupling leads to two-dimensional surface states. The latter feature spin-momentum locking, i.e., each momentum vector is associated with a…