Please wait a minute...
Chin. Phys. B, 2014, Vol. 23(10): 107304    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/23/10/107304
CONDENSED MATTER: ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL, MAGNETIC, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES Prev   Next  

Electron states scattering off line edges on the surface of topological insulator

Shao Huai-Hua (邵怀华), Liu Yi-Man (刘一曼), Zhou Xiao-Ying (周小英), Zhou Guang-Hui (周光辉)
Department of Physics and Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Structures and Quantum Manipulation (Ministry of Education), Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
Abstract  We study the local density of states (LDOS) for electrons scattering off the line edge of an atomic step defect on the surface of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) and the line edge of a finite 3D TI, where the front surface and side surface meet with different Fermi velocities, respectively. By using a δ-function potential to model the edges, we find that the bound states existed along the step line edge significantly contribute to the LDOS near the edge, but do not modify the exponential behavior away from it. In addition, the power-law decaying behavior for LDOS oscillation away from the step is understood from the spin rotation for surface states scattering off the step defect with magnitude depending on the strength of the potential. Furthermore, the electron refraction and total reflection analogous to optics occurred at the line edge where two surfaces meet with different Fermi velocities, which leads to the LDOS decaying behavior in the greater Fermi velocity side similar to that for a step line edge. However, in the smaller velocity side the LDOS shows a different decaying behavior as x-1/2, and the wavevector of LDOS oscillation is no longer equal to the diameter of the constant energy contour of surface band, but is sensitively dependent on the ratio of the two Fermi velocities. These effects may be verified by STM measurement with high precision.
Keywords:  topological insulator      line defects      local density of states  
Received:  25 April 2014      Revised:  20 May 2014      Accepted manuscript online: 
PACS:  73.50.-h (Electronic transport phenomena in thin films)  
  72.80.Vp (Electronic transport in graphene)  
  73.23.-b (Electronic transport in mesoscopic systems)  
Fund: Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11274108), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20114306110008), and the Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation for Postgraduates (Grant No. CX2012B204).
Corresponding Authors:  Zhou Guang-Hui     E-mail:  ghzhou@hunnu.edu.cn
About author:  73.50.-h; 72.80.Vp; 73.23.-b

Cite this article: 

Shao Huai-Hua (邵怀华), Liu Yi-Man (刘一曼), Zhou Xiao-Ying (周小英), Zhou Guang-Hui (周光辉) Electron states scattering off line edges on the surface of topological insulator 2014 Chin. Phys. B 23 107304

[1]Qi X L and Zhang S C 2010 Phys. Today 63 33
[2]Moore J E 2010 Nature 464 194
[3]Fu L, Kane C L and Mele E J 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 106803
[4]Moore J E and Balents L 2007 Phys. Rev. B 75 121306
[5]Bernevig B A, Hughes T L and Zhang S C 2006 Science 314 1757
[6]Zhang H, Liu C X, Qi X L, Dai X, Fang Z and Zhang S C 2009 Nat. Phys. 5 438
[7]König M, Wiedmann S, Brüne C, Roth A, Buhmann H, Molenkamp L W, Qi X L and Zhang S C 2007 Science 318 766
[8]Xia Y, Qian D, Hsieh D, Wray L, Pal A, Lin H, Bansil A, Grauer D, Hor Y S, Cava R J and Hasan M Z 2009 Nat. Phys. 5 398
[9]Chen Y L, Analytis J G, Chu J H, Liu Z K, Mo S K, Qi X L, Zhang H J, Lu D H, Dai X, Fang Z, Zhang S C, Fisher I R, Hussain Z and Shen Z X 2009 Science 325 178
[10]Hsieh D, Xia Y, Wray L, Qian D, Pal A, Dil J H, Osterwalder J, Meier F, Bihlmayer G, Kane C L, Hor Y S, Cava R J and Hasan M Z 2009 Science 323 919
[11]Roushan P, Seo J, Parker C V, Hor Y S, Hsieh D, Qian D, Richardella A, Hasan M Z, Cava R J and Yazdani A 2009 Nature 460 1106
[12]Hasan M Z and Kane C L 2010 Rev. Mod. Phys. 82 3045
[13]Qi X L and Zhang S C 2011 Rev. Mod. Phys. 83 1057
[14]Fu L and Kane C L 2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 096407
[15]Qi X L, Hughes T L, Raghu S and Zhang S C 2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 187001
[16]Qi X L, Li R, Zang J and Zhang S C 2009 Science 323 1184
[17]Sakamoto Y, Hirahara T, Miyazaki H, Kimura S and Hasegawa S 2010 Phys. Rev. B 81 165432
[18]Zyuzin A A, Hook M D and Burkov A A 2011 Phys. Rev. B 83 245428
[19]Brahlek M, Bansal N, Koirala N, Xu S Y, Neupane M, Liu C, Hasan M Z and Oh S 2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 186403
[20]He H, Li B, Liu H, Guo X, Wang Z, Xie M and Wang J 2012 Appl. Phys. Lett. 100 032105
[21]Wang J, DaSilva A M, Chang C Z, He K, Jain J K, Samarth N, Ma X C, Xue Q K and Chan M H W 2011 Phys. Rev. B 83 245438
[22]Liu Y M, Shao H H, Zhou X Y and Zhou G H 2013 Chin. Phys. B 22 077310
[23]Shao H H, Zhou X Y, Li Y, Liu G H and Zhou G H 2011 Appl. Phys. Lett. 99 153104
[24]Zhang T, Cheng P, Chen X, Jia J F, Ma X, He K, Wang L, Zhang H, Dai X, Fang Z, Xie X C and Xue Q K 2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 103 266803
[25]Lee W C, Wu C, Arovas D P and Zhang S C 2009 Phys. Rev. B 80 245439
[26]Guo H M and Franz M 2010 Phys. Rev. B 81 041102(R)
[27]Fu Z G, Zhang P, Wang Z and Li S S 2011 Phys. Rev. B 84 235438
[28]Wang J and Zhu B F 2013 Chin. Phys. B 22 067301
[29]Biswas R R and Balatsky A V 2011 Phys. Rev. B 83 075439
[30]Biswas R R and Balatsky A V 2011 arXiv: 1005.4780
[31]Zhou X, Fang C, Tsai W F and Hu J P 2009 Phys. Rev. B 80 245317
[32]Wang Q H, Wang D and Zhang F C 2010 Phys. Rev. B 81 035104
[33]Alpichshev Z, Analytis J G, Chu J H, Fisher I R, Chen Y L, Shen Z X, Fang A and Kapitulnik A 2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 016401
[34]Alpichshev Z, Analytis J G, Chu J H, Fisher I R and Kapitulnik A 2011 Phys. Rev. B 84 041104(R)
[35]Wang J, Li W, Cheng P, Song C, Zhang T, Deng P, Chen X, Ma X, He K, Jia J F, Xue Q K and Zhu B F 2011 Phys. Rev. B 84 235447
[36]Zhang D and Ting C S 2012 Phys. Rev. B 85 115434
[37]An J and Ting C S 2012 Phys. Rev. B 86 165313
[38]Deb O, Soori A and Sen D 2014 arXiv: 1401.1027
[39]Rakyta P, Pályi A and Cserti J 2012 Phys. Rev. B 86 085456
[40]Herath T M, Hewageegana P and Apalkov V 2013 Phys. Rev. B 87 075318
[41]Crommie M F, Lutz C P and Eigler D M 1993 Nature 363 524
[42]Moon C Y, Han J, Lee H and Choi H J 2011 Phys. Rev. B 84 195425
[43]Zhang Y Y, Wang X R and Xie X C 2012 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 24 015004
[44]Takahashi R and Murakami S 2011 Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 166805
[45]Yokoyama T, Balatsky A V and Nagaosa N 2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 246806
[46]Sen D and Deb O 2012 Phys. Rev. B 85 245402
[47]Pereira J M, Mlinar J V, Peeters F M and Vasilopoulos P 2006 Phys. Rev. B 74 045424
[1] Vortex bound states influenced by the Fermi surface anisotropy
Delong Fang(方德龙). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(3): 037403.
[2] Hall conductance of a non-Hermitian two-band system with k-dependent decay rates
Junjie Wang(王俊杰), Fude Li(李福德), and Xuexi Yi(衣学喜). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(2): 020305.
[3] High Chern number phase in topological insulator multilayer structures: A Dirac cone model study
Yi-Xiang Wang(王义翔) and Fu-Xiang Li(李福祥). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(9): 090501.
[4] Effects of phosphorus doping on the physical properties of axion insulator candidate EuIn2As2
Feihao Pan(潘斐豪), Congkuan Tian(田丛宽), Jiale Huang(黄嘉乐), Daye Xu(徐大业), Jinchen Wang (汪晋辰), Peng Cheng(程鹏), Juanjuan Liu(刘娟娟), and Hongxia Zhang(张红霞). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(5): 057502.
[5] Ac Josephson effect in Corbino-geometry Josephson junctions constructed on Bi2Te3 surface
Yunxiao Zhang(张云潇), Zhaozheng Lyu(吕昭征), Xiang Wang(王翔), Enna Zhuo(卓恩娜), Xiaopei Sun(孙晓培), Bing Li(李冰), Jie Shen(沈洁), Guangtong Liu(刘广同), Fanming Qu(屈凡明), and Li Lü(吕力). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(10): 107402.
[6] Effects of post-annealing on crystalline and transport properties of Bi2Te3 thin films
Qi-Xun Guo(郭奇勋), Zhong-Xu Ren(任中旭), Yi-Ya Huang(黄意雅), Zhi-Chao Zheng(郑志超), Xue-Min Wang(王学敏), Wei He(何为), Zhen-Dong Zhu(朱振东), and Jiao Teng(滕蛟). Chin. Phys. B, 2021, 30(6): 067307.
[7] Quench dynamics in 1D model with 3rd-nearest-neighbor hoppings
Shuai Yue(岳帅), Xiang-Fa Zhou(周祥发), and Zheng-Wei Zhou(周正威). Chin. Phys. B, 2021, 30(2): 026402.
[8] Topological Dirac surface states in ternary compounds GeBi2Te4, SnBi2Te4 and Sn0.571Bi2.286Se4
Yunlong Li(李云龙), Chaozhi Huang(黄超之), Guohua Wang(王国华), Jiayuan Hu(胡佳元), Shaofeng Duan(段绍峰), Chenhang Xu(徐晨航), Qi Lu(卢琦), Qiang Jing(景强), Wentao Zhang(张文涛), and Dong Qian(钱冬). Chin. Phys. B, 2021, 30(12): 127901.
[9] Electric and thermal transport properties of topological insulator candidate LiMgBi
Hao OuYang(欧阳豪), Qing-Xin Dong(董庆新), Yi-Fei Huang(黄奕飞), Jun-Sen Xiang(项俊森), Li-Bo Zhang(张黎博), Chen-Sheng Li(李晨圣), Pei-Jie Sun(孙培杰), Zhi-An Ren(任治安), and Gen-Fu Chen(陈根富). Chin. Phys. B, 2021, 30(12): 127101.
[10] Electronic structures and topological properties of TeSe2 monolayers
Zhengyang Wan(万正阳), Hao Huan(郇昊), Hairui Bao(鲍海瑞), Xiaojuan Liu(刘晓娟), and Zhongqin Yang(杨中芹). Chin. Phys. B, 2021, 30(11): 117304.
[11] Progress on 2D topological insulators and potential applications in electronic devices
Yanhui Hou(侯延辉), Teng Zhang(张腾), Jiatao Sun(孙家涛), Liwei Liu(刘立巍), Yugui Yao(姚裕贵), Yeliang Wang(王业亮). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(9): 097304.
[12] Perpendicular magnetization switching by large spin—orbit torques from sputtered Bi2Te3
Zhenyi Zheng(郑臻益), Yue Zhang(张悦), Daoqian Zhu(朱道乾), Kun Zhang(张昆), Xueqiang Feng(冯学强), Yu He(何宇), Lei Chen(陈磊), Zhizhong Zhang(张志仲), Dijun Liu(刘迪军), Youguang Zhang(张有光), Pedram Khalili Amiri, Weisheng Zhao(赵巍胜). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(7): 078505.
[13] Acoustic plasmonics of Au grating/Bi2Se3 thin film/sapphirehybrid structures
Weiwu Li(李伟武), Konstantin Riegel, Chuanpu Liu(刘传普), Alexey Taskin, Yoichi Ando, Zhimin Liao(廖志敏), Martin Dressel, Yuan Yan(严缘). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(6): 067801.
[14] Symmetry-controlled edge states in graphene-like topological sonic crystal
Zhang-Zhao Yang(杨彰昭), Jin-Heng Chen(陈晋恒), Yao-Yin Peng(彭尧吟), and Xin-Ye Zou(邹欣晔)†. Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(10): 104302.
[15] Electronic structure of correlated topological insulator candidate YbB6 studied by photoemission and quantum oscillation
T Zhang(张腾), G Li(李岗), S C Sun(孙淑翠), N Qin(秦娜), L Kang(康璐), S H Yao(姚淑华), H M Weng(翁红明), S K Mo, L Li(李璐), Z K Liu(柳仲楷), L X Yang(杨乐仙), Y L Chen(陈宇林). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(1): 017304.
No Suggested Reading articles found!