Related papers: Topological blocking at the Bi(111) surface due to…
Topological insulators are a recently discovered class of materials with fascinating properties: While the inside of the solid is insulating, fundamental symmetry considerations require the surfaces to be metallic. The metallic surface…
Nickel/Bismuth (Ni/Bi) bilayers have recently attracted attention due to the occurrence of time-reversal symmetry breaking in the superconducting state. Here, we report on the structural, magnetic and electric characterization of thin film…
In an ideal InAs/GaSb bilayer of appropriate dimension in-plane electron and hole bands overlap and hybridize, and a topologically non-trivial, or quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator, phase is predicted to exist. The in-plane dispersion's…
Surface reactivity is important in modifying the physical and chemical properties of surface sensitive materials, such as the topological insulators (TIs). Even though many studies addressing the reactivity of TIs towards external gases…
The surface of a topological crystalline insulator (TCI) carries an even number of Dirac cones protected by crystalline symmetry. We epitaxially grew high quality Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Te(111) films and investigated the TCI phase by in-situ…
The structure of thin terminated Bi(1 1 1) films of approximately 1 nm thickness is investigated from first principles. Our density functional theory calculations show that covalent bonds to the surface can change the orientation of the…
Topological insulators are bulk semiconductors that manifest in-gap massless Dirac surface states due to the topological bulk-boundary correspondence principle [1-3]. These surface states have been a subject of tremendous ongoing interest,…
Using density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation and ultra-soft pseudo-potentials, we have calculated structural relaxations of the Cu(532) surface which contains steps and kinks. We find the relaxation pattern to…
Relativistic density-functional-theory calculations of Bi(111) thin films are performed to revisit their band structure and that of macroscopic samples. The band structure of a our 39-bilayer film ($\sim$~15~nm) shows that (1) $\sim$9-nm…
We use scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy under ultra-high vacuum and down to 1.7 K to study the local variations of the chemical potential on the surface of the topological insulator (Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$)$_2$Te$_3$ thin films…
In a search for a simple proximity system of a topological insulator and a superconductor for studying the role of surface versus bulk effects by gating, we report here on a first step toward this goal, namely the choice of such a system…
We performed high-resolution spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy studies of the electronic structure and the spin texture on the surface of Bi$_2$Se$_3$, a model topological insulator. By tuning the photon energy, we found…
We show that a number of transport properties in topological insulator (TI) Bi2Se3 exhibit striking thickness-dependences over a range of up to five orders of thickness (3 nm - 170 \mu m). Volume carrier density decreased with thickness,…
(Bi1-xSbx)2Se3 thin films have been prepared using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We demonstrate the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and transport evidence for the existence of strong and robust topological surface states…
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…
We discuss the magnetic and topological properties of bulk crystals and quasi-two-dimensional thin films formed by stacking intrinsic magnetized topological insulator ( for example Mn(Sb$_{x}$Bi$_{1-x}$)$_2$X$_4$ with X = Se,Te, including…
We theoretically study the electronic structure and spin properties of one-dimensional nanostructures of the prototypical bulk topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$. Realistic models of experimentally observed Bi$_2$Se$_3$ nanowires and…
Topological insulators are known to their metallic surface states, a result of strong-spin-orbital coupling, that show unique surface transport phenomenon. But these surface transports are buried in presence of metallic bulk conduction. We…
We describe the characterization of structural defects that occur during molecular beam epitaxy of topological insulator thin films on commonly used substrates. Twinned domains are ubiquitous but can be reduced by growth on smooth InP…
We describe the topological surface states of Bi$_4$Se$_3$, a compound in the infinitely adaptive Bi$_2$-Bi$_2$Se$_3$ natural superlattice phase series, determined by a combination of experimental and theoretical methods. Two observable…