Ambipolar transport in bulk crystals of a topological insulator by gating with ionic liquid

Abstract

We report that the ionic-liquid gating of bulk single crystals of a topological insulator can control the type of the surface carriers and even results in ambipolar transport. This was made possible by the use of a highly bulk-insulating BiSbTeSe2 system where the chemical potential is located close to both the surface Dirac point and the middle of the bulk band gap. Thanks to the use of ionic liquid, the control of the surface chemical potential by gating was possible on the whole surface of a bulk three-dimensional sample, opening new experimental opportunities for topological insulators. In addition, our data suggest the existence of a nearly reversible electrochemical reaction that causes bulk carrier doping into the crystal during the ionic-liquid gating process.

7 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables; significantly expanded version to fully discuss the gating process and its side effects; published in PRB

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Cited by in corpus (17)

• Observation of topological surface state quantum Hall effect in an intrinsic three-dimensional topological insulator
• Crystal Structure and Chemistry of Topological Insulators
• Topological Surface States with Persistent High Spin Polarization across Dirac Point in Bi${}_2$Te${}_2$Se and Bi${}_2$Se${}_2$Te
• Giant Edelstein effect in Topological-Insulator--Graphene heterostructures
• Phonon mode calculations and Raman spectroscopy of the bulk-insulating topological insulator BiSbTeSe${}_2$
• Electrostatic Coupling between Two Surfaces of a Topological Insulator Nanodevice
• Quantized and half-quantized Anomalous Hall effect induced by in-plane magnetic field
• Van der Waals heterostructures with spin-orbit coupling
• Surface-induced linear magnetoresistance in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4
• Prominent metallic surface conduction and the singular magnetic response of topological Dirac fermion in three-dimensional topological insulator Bi${}_{1.5}$Sb${}_{0.5}$Te${}_{1.7}$Se${}_{1.3}$
• Quantum oscillations of the topological surface states in low carrier concentration crystals of Bi${}_{2-x}$Sb${}_x$Te${}_{3-y}$Se${}_y$
• Instantaneous Photon Drag Currents in Topological Insulators
• From classical to quantum regime of topological surface states via defect engineering
• Nonvolatile Solid-State Charged-Polymer Gating of Topological Insulators into the Topological Insulating Regime
• Enhancement in surface mobility and quantum transport of Bi_(2-x)Sb_(x)Te_(3-y)Se_(y) topological insulator by controlling the crystal growth conditions
• Optical grade bromide-based thin film electrolytes
• Influence of Device Geometry on Transport Properties of Topological Insulator Microflakes