Disorder-driven topological phase transition in Bi2Se3 films

Brahlek, Matthew; Koirala, Nikesh; Salehi, Maryam; Moon, Jisoo; Zhang, Wenhan; Li, Haoxiang; Zhou, Xiaoqing; Han, Myung-Geun; Wu, Liang; Emge, Thomas; Lee, Hang-Dong; Xu, Can; Rhee, Seuk Joo; Gustafsson, Torgny; Armitage, N. Peter; Zhu, Yimei; Dessau, Daniel S.; Wu, Weida; Oh, Seongshik

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.94.165104

Title: Disorder-driven topological phase transition in $B i_{2} S e_{3}$ films

Journal Article · Mon Oct 03 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physical Review B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.165104· OSTI ID:1336221

Brahlek, Matthew ^[1]; Koirala, Nikesh ^[1]; Salehi, Maryam ^[2]; Moon, Jisoo ^[1]; Zhang, Wenhan ^[1]; Li, Haoxiang ^[3]; Zhou, Xiaoqing ^[3]; Han, Myung-Geun ^[4]; Wu, Liang ^[5]; Emge, Thomas ^[6]; Lee, Hang-Dong ^[1]; Xu, Can ^[1]; Rhee, Seuk Joo ^[7]; Gustafsson, Torgny ^[1]; Armitage, N. Peter ^[8]; Zhu, Yimei ^[4]; Dessau, Daniel S. ^[9]; Wu, Weida ^[1]; Oh, Seongshik ^[1]

Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States). Dept. of Physics & Astronomy
Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Physics
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Inst. for Quantum Matter, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Rutgers Univ., Piscataway, NJ (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
Hankuk Univ. of Foreign Studies, Yongin-shi (Korea). Dept. of Physics
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Inst. for Quantum Matter, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

Topological insulators (TI) are a phase of matter that host unusual metallic states on their surfaces. Unlike the states that exist on the surface of conventional materials, these so-called topological surfaces states (TSS) are protected against disorder-related localization effects by time reversal symmetry through strong spin-orbit coupling. By combining transport measurements, angle-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy, we show that there exists a critical level of disorder beyond which the TI Bi₂Se₃ loses its ability to protect the metallic TSS and transitions to a fully insulating state. The absence of the metallic surface channels dictates that there is a change in material’s topological character, implying that disorder can lead to a topological phase transition even without breaking the time reversal symmetry. This observation challenges the conventional notion of topologically-protected surface states, and will provoke new studies as to the fundamental nature of topological phase of matter in the presence of disorder.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704; FG0203ER46066; AC02-05CH11231; W911NF-15-1-0560; DMR-1506618; DMREF-1233349; DMR-1126468; GBMF4418; DMR-1308142; DMR-1106070; GBMF2628; DESC0012704

OSTI ID:: 1336221

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1328573

Report Number(s):: BNL-113250-2016-JA; PRBMDO; R&D Project: MA015MACA; KC0201010

Journal Information:: Physical Review B, Vol. 94, Issue 16; ISSN 2469-9950

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 16 works

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