THz response and colossal Kerr rotation from the surface states of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$

Abstract

Ordered states of matter are typically categorized by their broken symmetries. With the ordering of spins in a ferromagnet or the freezing of a liquid into a solid, the loss of symmetry distinguishes the ordered state from the disordered one. In contrast, topological states are distinguished by specific \textit{topological} properties that are encoded in their quantum mechanical wavefunctions. Frequently, a consequence of these properties is that there are robust "topologically protected" states on the sample's boundaries. The edge states of the quantum Hall effect (QHE) are the classic example. In the last few years, it was realized that another class of such topological matter may exist in 3D band insulators with large spin-orbit interaction. These so-called topological insulators are predicted to host robust surface states, which exhibit a number of interesting properties including spin helicity, immunity to back-scattering, and weak \textit{anti}--localization. There are predictions of a number of unusual phenomena associated with these surface states, including a proximity-effect-induced exotic superconducting state with Majorana fermions bound to a vortex and an `axion' electromagnetic response, and proposals for applications, such as their use in terahertz devices. In this Letter we report the observation of an unprecedentedly large rotation of the polarization plane of linearly polarized light reflected from thin films of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ in magnetic fields. This Kerr rotation can be as large as 65${}^{\circ }$ and is due almost entirely to the surface states. Our results are evidence for the intrinsic response of the topologically protected surface states and provide a benchmark for the large magneto-electric effect predicted for these materials.

arXiv comment8 pages, 6 figures

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Cited by in corpus (109)

• Colloquium: Topological Band Theory
• Observation of Dirac plasmons in a topological insulator
• Ultrafast Optical Excitation of a Persistent Surface-State Population in the Topological Insulator Bi2Se3
• Quantized Faraday and Kerr rotation and axion electrodynamics of a 3D topological insulator
• Thickness-independent transport channels in topological insulator Bi2Se3 thin films
• Measurement of intrinsic Dirac fermion cooling on the surface of a topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
• A sudden collapse in the transport lifetime across the topological phase transition in $(B{i}_{1-x}I{n}_x{)}_{2}S{e}_3$
• Ultrafast photocurrents at the surface of the three-dimensional topological insulator ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Se}}_3$
• Observation of inverse spin Hall effect in bismuth selenide
• Observation of the universal magnetoelectric effect in a 3D topological insulator
• Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator
• Direct Optical Coupling to an Unoccupied Dirac Surface State in the Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Gate-controllable magneto-optic Kerr effect in layered collinear antiferromagnets
• Large magneto-optical Kerr effect in noncollinear antiferromagnets Mn${}_{3}X$ ($X$ = Rh, Ir, or Pt)
• Experimental signature of parity anomaly in semi-magnetic topological insulator
• Optical conductivity of Bismuth-based topological insulator
• Polarization modulation time-domain terahertz polarimetry
• Ultrafast Terahertz Conductivity Probes of Topologically Enhanced Surface Transport Driven by Mid-Infrared Laser Pulses in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Two-dimensional fully-compensated Ferrimagnetism
• Spin-helical transport in normal and superconducting topological insulators
• Valley Contrasting Magnetoluminescence in Monolayer MoS${}_2$ Quantum Hall Systems
• Time-resolved terahertz dynamics in thin films of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Shift charge and spin photocurrents in Dirac surface states of topological insulator
• Unraveling photoinduced spin dynamics in topological insulator Bi2Se3
• High-Resolution Faraday Rotation and Electron-Phonon Coupling in Surface States of the Bulk-Insulating Topological Insulator Cu${}_{0.02}$Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Evidence of surface transport and weak anti-localization in single crystal of Bi2Te2Se topological insulator
• Optical evidence of surface state suppression in Bi based topological insulators
• Terahertz time-domain spectroscopic ellipsometry: Instrumentation and calibration
• Revealing puddles of electrons and holes in compensated topological insulators
• Plasmonics in topological insulators: Spin-charge separation, the influence of the inversion layer, and phonon-plasmon coupling
• Anomalous 3D bulk AC conduction within the Kondo gap of SmB${}_6$ single crystals
• Half-integer quantum Hall effect of disordered Dirac fermions at a topological insulator surface
• Single-Shot Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy in Pulsed High Magnetic Fields
• Tunneling Planar Hall Effect in Topological Insulators: Spin-Valves and Amplifiers
• Observation of Chiral Surface Excitons in a Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Developments in THz range ellipsometry
• Time-Domain Terahertz Spectroscopy in High Magnetic Fields
• Propagation of Surface Plasmon Polaritons in Thin Films of Topological Insulators
• Finite-size and composition-driven topological phase transition in (Bi${}_{1-x}$In${}_x$)${}_2$Se${}_3$ thin films
• Aging and reduced bulk conductance in thin films of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Terahertz Magneto Optical Polarization Modulation Spectroscopy
• Fluctuation-induced torque on a topological insulator out of thermal equilibrium
• Gate-Variable Mid-Infrared Optical Transitions in a $(B{i}_{1-x}S{b}_x{)}_{2}T{e}_3$ Topological Insulator
• Giant intrinsic anomalous terahertz Faraday rotation in the magnetic Weyl semimetal Co${}_2$MnGa at room temperature
• Modification and Control of Topological Insulator Surface States Using Surface Disorder
• Probing topological transitions in HgTe/CdTe quantum wells by magneto-optical measurements
• On-chip time-domain terahertz spectroscopy of superconducting films below the diffraction limit
• Helicity dependent photovoltaic effect in Bi2Se3 under normal incident light
• Transfer matrix approach for the Kerr and Faraday rotation in layered nanostructures
• Optical properties of magnetically doped ultra-thin topological insulator slabs
• Topological dynamics of gyroscopic and Floquet lattices from Newton's laws
• Interband absorption edge in topological insulators Bi${}_2$(Te${}_{1-x}$Se${}_x$)${}_3$
• Photocurrents in Bi2Se3: bulk versus surface, and injection versus shift currents
• Resonant manifestations of chiral excitons in magnetooptical Faraday and Kerr effects in topological insulator film
• Infrared electrodynamics and ferromagnetism in the topological semiconductors Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ and Mn-doped Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Dirac cone shift of a passivated topological Bi2Se3 interface state
• Robust topological insulator surface conduction under strong surface disorder
• Giant Terahertz Polarization Rotation in Ultrathin Films of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes
• The noncommutative Kubo Formula: Applications to Transport in Disordered Topological Insulators with and without Magnetic Fields
• Surface plasmons in doped topological insulators
• Terahertz Faraday and Kerr rotation spectroscopy of Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$ films in high magnetic fields up to 30 Tesla
• Coexistence of bulk and surface states probed by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ with high charge-carrier density
• Strong interband Faraday rotation in 3D topological insulator Bi2Se3
• Sub 100-ps dynamics of the anomalous Hall effect at THz frequencies
• Optical responses and optical activity of ultrathin films of topological insulator
• Electric field modulated topological magnetoelectric effect in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Optical investigation of thermoelectric topological crystalline insulator Pb${}_{0.77}$Sn${}_{0.23}$Se
• Giant plateau in the THz Faraday angle in gated Bi2Se3
• Observation of terahertz second harmonic generation from Dirac surface states in the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Tuning and Stabilizing Topological Insulator Bi2Se3 in the Intrinsic Regime by Charge Extraction with Organic Overlayers
• Surface Optical and Bulk Acoustic Phonons in the Topological Insulator, Bi2Se2Te
• A Modified $8f$ Geometry With Reduced Optical Aberrations For Improved Time Domain Terahertz Spectroscopy
• Resonant Faraday and Kerr effects due to in-gap states on the surface of a topological insulator
• A compact broadband terahertz range quarter-wave plate
• Anomalous ferromagnetism and magneto-optical Kerr effect in semiconducting double perovskite Ba2NiOsO6 and its (111) (Ba2NiOsO6)/(BaTiO3)10 superlattice
• Ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy study of Kondo insulating thin film SmB${}_6$: evidence for an emergent surface state
• Topological cutoff frequency in a slab waveguide: Penetration length in topological insulator walls
• Anomaly-induced sound absorption in Weyl semimetals
• Experimental signatures of 3d fractional topological insulators
• Coherent Magneto-Optical Effects in Topological Insulators: Excitation Near the Absorption Edge
• Measurement of the topological surface state optical conductance in bulk-insulating Sn-doped Bi${}_{1.1}$Sb${}_{0.9}$Te${}_2$S single crystals
• Magneto-Infrared Spectroscopic Study of Ultrathin Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ Single Crystals
• Emergence of inductance and capacitance from topological electromagnetism
• Resonant magneto-optic Kerr effect in the magnetic topological insulator Cr:(Sb${}_x$,Bi${}_{1-x}$)${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Magneto-optical properties of topological insulator thin films with broken inversion symmetry
• Broadband Circular Polarization Time-Domain Terahertz Spectroscopy
• Strong magneto-optical effects due to surface states in three-dimensional topological insulators
• Fano q-reversal in topological insulator Bi2Se3
• Ambipolar magneto-optical response of ultra-low carrier density topological insulators
• Magneto-optical Spectroscopy with RAMBO: A Table-Top 30 T Magnet
• Observation of optical absorption correlated with surface state of topological insulator
• Chiral magnetic effect of light
• Bulk effects on topological conduction on the surface of 3-D topological insulators
• Instantaneous Photon Drag Currents in Topological Insulators
• Infrared study of Large scale h-BN film and Graphene/h-BN heterostructure
• Giant magneto-optical Kerr enhancement from films on SiC due to the optical properties of the substrate
• From classical to quantum regime of topological surface states via defect engineering
• Observation of topological Faraday and Kerr rotations in quantum anomalous Hall state by terahertz magneto-optics
• Nonvolatile Solid-State Charged-Polymer Gating of Topological Insulators into the Topological Insulating Regime
• Magnetoexcitons and optical absorption of bilayer-structured topological insulators
• Voltage-controlled topological spin textures in the monolayer limit
• Probing and controlling terahertz-driven structural dynamics with surface sensitivity
• Terahertz Landau level spectroscopy of Dirac fermions in millimeter-scale twisted bilayer graphene
• Anomalous Hall Response in Two Dimensional Topological Insulators due to the Stark Effect
• Cross-Polarized Microwave Surface-State Anti-Resonance
• A new type of cyclotron resonance from charge-impurity scattering in the bulk-insulating Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ thin films
• Improved measurement of polarization state in terahertz polarization spectroscopy
• Maximal Axion Optical Chirality Enabled by Degenerate Quasibound States in the Continuum
• Electric-Field-induced Two-Dimensional Fully Compensated Ferrimagnetism and Emergent Transport Phenomena