Quantitative Analysis of Weak Antilocalization Effect of Topological Surface States in Topological Insulator BiSbTeSe2

Nano Lett. 2019 Apr 10;19(4):2450-2455. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b05186. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Abstract

Quantitative analysis of the weak antilocalization (WAL) effect of topological surface states in topological insulators is of tremendous importance. The major obstacle to achieve accurate results is how to eliminate the contribution of the anisotropic magnetoconductance of bulk states when the Fermi level lies in bulk bands. Here, we demonstrate that we can analyze quantitatively and accurately the WAL effect of topological surface states in topological insulator, BiSbTeSe2 (BSTS), by measuring the anisotropic magnetoconductance. The anomalous conductance peaks induced by the WAL effect of topological surface states of BSTS together with the anisotropic magnetoconductance of bulk states have been observed. By subtracting the anisotropic magnetoconductance of bulk states, we are able to analyze the WAL effect of topological surface states using the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka expression. Our findings offer an alternative strategy for the quantitative exploration of the WAL effect of topological surface states in topological insulators.

Keywords: Hikami−Larkin−Nagaoka expression; Topological insulators; anisotropic magnetoconductance; topological surface states; weak antilocalization effect.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't