Topological insulators for high performance terahertz to infrared applications

Abstract

Topological insulators in the Bi2Se3 family have an energy gap in the bulk and a gapless surface state consisting of a single Dirac cone. Low frequency optical absorption due to the surface state is universally determined by the fine structure constant. When the thickness of these three dimensional topological insulators is reduced, they become quasi-two dimensional insulators with enhanced absorbance. The two dimensional insulators can be topologically trivial or non-trivial depending on the thickness, and we predict that the optical absorption is larger for topological non-trivial case compared with the trivial case. Since the three dimensional topological insulator surface state is intrinsically gapless, we propose its potential application in wide bandwidth, high performance photo-detection covering a broad spectrum ranging from terahertz to infrared. The performance of photodetection can be dramatically enhanced when the thickness is reduced to several quintuple layers, with a widely tunable band gap depending on the thickness.

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Cited by in corpus (33)

• Observation of Dirac plasmons in a topological insulator
• THz response and colossal Kerr rotation from the surface states of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator
• Ultrafast helicity control of surface currents in topological insulators with near-unity fidelity
• Optical conductivity of Bismuth-based topological insulator
• Temperature dependence of Raman-active optical phonons in Bi_2Se_3 and Sb_2Te_3
• Robust broad spectral photodetection (UV-NIR) and ultra high responsivity investigated in nanosheets and nanowires of Bi2Te3 under harsh nano-milling conditions
• Molecular Beam Epitaxial Growth of Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 Topological Insulators on GaAs (111) Substrates: A Potential Route to Fabricate Topological Insulator p-n Junction
• Time-resolved terahertz dynamics in thin films of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Photon Inhibited Topological Transport in Quantum Well Heterostructures
• Electromagnetic response of quantum Hall systems in dimensions five and six and beyond
• Electron-hole pairing in topological insulator thin film
• Density Functional Study of Ternary Topological Insulator Thin Films
• Off-resonant polarized light-controlled thermoelectric transport in ultrathin topological insulators
• Photogalvanic effect in HgTe/CdTe topological insulator due to edge-bulk optical transitions
• Giant Photonic Response of Mexican-hat Topological Semiconductors for Mid-infrared to THz Applications
• Topological dynamics of gyroscopic and Floquet lattices from Newton's laws
• Negative differential resistance and characteristic nonlinear electromagnetic response of a Topological Insulator
• Calculation of divergent photon absorption in ultrathin films of a topological insulator
• Tunable photo-galvanic effect on topological insulator surfaces via proximity interactions
• Surface Phonons in the Topological Insulators Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3
• Stoichiometric Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator Ultra-Thin Films Obtained Through a New Fabrication Process for Optoelectronic Applications
• Entangled multi-component 4D quantum Hall states from photonic crystal defects
• Growth of Ultrathin Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ Films by Molecular Beam Epitaxy
• Strain-enhanced optical absorbance of topological insulator films
• Topological cutoff frequency in a slab waveguide: Penetration length in topological insulator walls
• THz Photodetector using sideband-modulated transport through surface states of a 3D Topological Insulator
• Strong magneto-optical effects due to surface states in three-dimensional topological insulators
• Strong and Weak Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators Probed by Surface Science Methods
• Unconventional quantum Hall effect in Floquet topological insulators
• In-Plane Plasmon Coupling in Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ Thin Films
• Dirac plasmon polaritons and magnetic modes in topological-insulator nanoparticles
• Two dimensional photonic quasicrystal edge states protected by second Chern number