Intrinsic Electron-Phonon Resistivity in Bi2Se3 in the Topological Regime

Abstract

We measure the temperature-dependent carrier density and resistivity of the topological surface state of thin exfoliated Bi2Se3 in the absence of bulk conduction. When the gate-tuned chemical potential is near or below the Dirac point the carrier density is strongly temperature dependent reflecting thermal activation from the nearby bulk valence band, while above the Dirac point, unipolar n-type surface conduction is observed with negligible thermal activation of bulk carriers. In this regime linear resistivity vs. temperature reflects intrinsic electron-acoustic phonon scattering. Quantitative comparison with a theoretical transport calculation including both phonon and disorder effects gives the ratio of deformation potential to Fermi velocity D/\hbarvF = 4.7 Å-1. This strong phonon scattering in the Bi2Se3 surface state gives intrinsic limits for the conductivity and charge carrier mobility at room temperature of ~550 μS per surface and ~10,000 cm2/Vs.

15 pages, 3 figures, minor revision (version 2)

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• Optical evidence of surface state suppression in Bi based topological insulators
• Topological insulator Bi2Se3 thin films as an alternative channel material in MOSFETs
• Acoustic phonon dynamics in thin-films of the topological insulator Bi2Se3
• Two-dimensional electronic transport on the surface of 3D topological insulators
• A supervised learning algorithm for interacting topological insulators based on local curvature
• Temperature Dependent n-p Transition of 3 Dimensional Dirac Semimetal Na${}_3$Bi Thin Film
• Phase diagram and phonon-induced backscattering in topological insulator nanowires
• Erasable superconductivity in topological insulator Bi2Se3 induced by voltage pulse
• Ultrafast switching of topological invariants by light-driven strain