Related papers: Topological blocking at the Bi(111) surface due to…
Theoretical and experimental studies agree that $\text{Bi}_{1-x}\text{Sb}_{x}$ ($0.07 \leq x \leq 0.21$) to be a three-dimensional topological insulator. However, there is still a debate on the corresponding…
Using a density functional based electronic structure method, we study the effect of perturbations on the surface state Dirac cone of a strong topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ from both the intrinsic and extrinsic sources. We consider…
Crystalline symmetries have played a central role in the identification of topological materials. The use of symmetry indicators and band representations have enabled a classification scheme for crystalline topological materials, leading to…
We address the topological nature of electronic states of step edges of Bi(111) films by first principles band structure calculations. We confirm that the dispersion of step edge states reflects the topological nature of underlying films.…
Interfacing bulk conducting topological Bi$_2$Se$_3$ films with s-wave superconductors initiates strong superconducting order in the nontrivial surface states. However, bulk insulating topological (Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_{x})_2$Te$_3$ films on bulk…
A topological insulator (TI), a new quantum state featured with the topologically-protected surface state (TSS) originating from its peculiar topology in band structure, has attracted much interest due to academic and practical importance.…
We discuss possible topological phase transitions in Ge-based thin films of Ge(Bi$_x$Sb$_{1-x}$)$_2$Te$_4$ as a function of layer thickness and Bi concentration $x$ using the first principles density functional theory framework. The bulk…
We introduce a dinstint approach to engineer a topologically protected surface state of a topological insulator. By covering the surface of a topological insulator, Bi2Te2Se, with a Bi monolayer film, the original surface state is…
Although topological surface states are known to be robust against non-magnetic surface perturbations, their band dispersions and spatial distributions are still sensitive to the surface defects. Take Bi2Se3 as an example, we demonstrated…
We present a quantitative microscopic theory of the disorder- and phonon-induced coupling between surface and bulk states in topological insulator (TI) films. We find a simple structure for the surface-to-bulk scattering matrix elements and…
Bi(0001) films with thicknesses up to several bilayers (BLs) are grown on Se-terminated Bi$_2$Se$_3$(0001) surfaces, and low energy electron diffraction (LEED), low energy ion scattering (LEIS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to…
Topological insulators as new type of quantum matter materials are characterized by a full insulating gap in the bulk and gapless edge/surface states which are protected by time-reversal symmetry. We propose the interference patterns caused…
Bias voltage dependent scattering of the topological surface state is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy for a clean surface of the topological insulator Bi$_2$Te$_2$Se. A strong warping of constant energy contours in the…
Topological insulators represent a paradigm shift in surface physics. The most extensively studied Bi$_2$Se$_3$-type topological insulators exhibit layered structures, wherein neighboring layers are weakly bonded by van der Waals…
While first-principles calculations with different levels of sophistication predict a topologically trivial $Z_2$ state for bulk bismuth, some photoemission experiments show surface states consistent with the interpretation of bismuth being…
We report on fabrication of a two-dimensional topological insulator-Bi(111) bilayer on Sb nanofilms via a sequential molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth technique. Our angle-resolved photoemission measurements demonstrate the evolution of…
In ideal topological insulator (TI) films the bulk state, which is supposed to be insulating, should not provide any electric coupling between the two metallic surfaces. However, transport studies on existing TI films show that the…
Two quintuple layers of strong topological insulator Bi2Se3 are coupled by a Bi bilayer in BiSe crystal. We investigated its electronic structure using angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to study its topological nature. Dirac like…
The quantum size effect has a significant impact on electrons, such that it can even change their topologically protected properties. An example of this phenomenon is the gap opening in the topologically protected gapless surface state in…
Bismuth (Bi) films hold potential for spintronic devices and topological one-dimensional edge transport. Large-area high-quality (111) Bi ultrathin films are grown on InSb (111)B substrates. Strong film-substrate interactions epitaxially…