Observation of ultrahigh mobility surface states in a topological crystalline insulator by infrared spectroscopy

Wang, Ying; Luo, Guoyu; Liu, Junwei; Sankar, R.; Wang, Nan-Lin; Chou, Fangcheng; Fu, Liang; Li, Zhiqiang

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00446-2

Title: Observation of ultrahigh mobility surface states in a topological crystalline insulator by infrared spectroscopy

Journal Article · Mon Aug 28 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00446-2· OSTI ID:1424919

Wang, Ying ^[1]; Luo, Guoyu ^[2]; Liu, Junwei ^[3]; Sankar, R. ^[4]; Wang, Nan-Lin ^[5]; Chou, Fangcheng ^[6]; Fu, Liang ^[7]; Li, Zhiqiang ^[2]

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FL (United States)
Sichuan Univ., Chengdu (China). College of Physical Science and Technolog
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Department of Physics; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (China). Department of Physics
National Taiwan University, Taipei (Taiwan). Center for Condensed Matter Sciences; Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei (Taiwan)
Peking Univ., Beijing (China). International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics
National Taiwan University, Taipei (Taiwan). Center for Condensed Matter Sciences
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Department of Physics

Topological crystalline insulators possess metallic surface states protected by crystalline symmetry, which are a versatile platform for exploring topological phenomena and potential applications. However, progress in this field has been hindered by the challenge to probe optical and transport properties of the surface states owing to the presence of bulk carriers. Here, we report infrared reflectance measurements of a topological crystalline insulator, (001)-oriented Pb_1-xSn_xSe in zero and high magnetic fields. We demonstrate that the far-infrared conductivity is unexpectedly dominated by the surface states as a result of their unique band structure and the consequent small infrared penetration depth. Moreover, our experiments yield a surface mobility of 40,000 cm² V^-1 s^-1, which is one of the highest reported values in topological materials, suggesting the viability of surface-dominated conduction in thin topological crystalline insulator crystals. These findings pave the way for exploring many exotic transport and optical phenomena and applications predicted for topological crystalline insulators.

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Research Organization:: Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0010526

OSTI ID:: 1424919

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 13 works

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