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Title: Large surface conductance and superconductivity in topological insulator microstructures

Abstract

Controllable geometric manipulation via micromachining techniques provides a promising tool for enhancing useful topological electrical responses relevant to future applications such as quantum information science [P. J. W. Moll, “Focused ion beam microstructuring of quantum matter,” Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys. 9, 147 (2018); Jang et al., “Observation of half-height magnetization steps in Sr2RuO4,” Science 331, 186 (2011); Moll et al., “Transport evidence for Fermi-arc-mediated chirality transfer in the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2,” Nature 535, 266 (2016); Moll et al., “Evidence for hydrodynamic electron flow in PdCoO2,” Science 351, 1061 (2016)]. Here, we present microdevices fabricated with a focused ion beam from an indium-doped topological insulator Pb1−xSnxTe. With the device thickness on the order of 1 μm and an extremely large bulk resistivity, we achieve an unprecedented enhancement of the surface contribution to about 30% of the total conductance near room temperature. The surface contribution increases as the temperature is reduced, becoming dominant below approximately 180 K, compared to 30 K in millimeter-thickness crystals. In addition to the enhanced surface contribution to normal-state transport, we observe the emergence of surface superconductivity below 6 K. Measurements of magnetoresistivity at high magnetic fields reveal a weak antilocalization behavior in the normal-state magnetoconductance at low temperatures andmore » a variation in the power-law dependence of resistivity on temperature with the field. These results demonstrate that interesting electronic responses relevant to practical applications can be achieved by suitable engineering of single crystals.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
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  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1572356
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1571675
Report Number(s):
BNL-212271-2019-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951; TRN: US2001102
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0012704
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 115; Journal Issue: 17; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY

Citation Formats

Li, Yangmu, Wu, Jie, Camino, Fernando, Gu, G. D., Božović, Ivan, and Tranquada, John M. Large surface conductance and superconductivity in topological insulator microstructures. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1063/1.5122789.
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Li, Yangmu, Wu, Jie, Camino, Fernando, Gu, G. D., Božović, Ivan, & Tranquada, John M. Large surface conductance and superconductivity in topological insulator microstructures. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5122789
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Li, Yangmu, Wu, Jie, Camino, Fernando, Gu, G. D., Božović, Ivan, and Tranquada, John M. Mon . "Large surface conductance and superconductivity in topological insulator microstructures". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5122789. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1572356.
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@article{osti_1572356,
title = {Large surface conductance and superconductivity in topological insulator microstructures},
author = {Li, Yangmu and Wu, Jie and Camino, Fernando and Gu, G. D. and Božović, Ivan and Tranquada, John M.},
abstractNote = {Controllable geometric manipulation via micromachining techniques provides a promising tool for enhancing useful topological electrical responses relevant to future applications such as quantum information science [P. J. W. Moll, “Focused ion beam microstructuring of quantum matter,” Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys. 9, 147 (2018); Jang et al., “Observation of half-height magnetization steps in Sr2RuO4,” Science 331, 186 (2011); Moll et al., “Transport evidence for Fermi-arc-mediated chirality transfer in the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2,” Nature 535, 266 (2016); Moll et al., “Evidence for hydrodynamic electron flow in PdCoO2,” Science 351, 1061 (2016)]. Here, we present microdevices fabricated with a focused ion beam from an indium-doped topological insulator Pb1−xSnxTe. With the device thickness on the order of 1 μm and an extremely large bulk resistivity, we achieve an unprecedented enhancement of the surface contribution to about 30% of the total conductance near room temperature. The surface contribution increases as the temperature is reduced, becoming dominant below approximately 180 K, compared to 30 K in millimeter-thickness crystals. In addition to the enhanced surface contribution to normal-state transport, we observe the emergence of surface superconductivity below 6 K. Measurements of magnetoresistivity at high magnetic fields reveal a weak antilocalization behavior in the normal-state magnetoconductance at low temperatures and a variation in the power-law dependence of resistivity on temperature with the field. These results demonstrate that interesting electronic responses relevant to practical applications can be achieved by suitable engineering of single crystals.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5122789},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
number = 17,
volume = 115,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Oct 21 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Mon Oct 21 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5122789
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Pb0.6Sn0.4)0.92In0.08Te devices and possible two-dimensional superconductivity. (a, b) False-color scanning electron microscopy images of the crystals (purple), gold contacts (yellow), and platinum wires (grey) for D1 and D2, respectively. (c, d) Corresponding zero-field resistivity. (e, f) The emergence of possible two-dimensional. For clarification, insets show a fit tomore » Halperin-Nelson formula (H-N fit) up to 1.5 K [equation (1)].« less
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