Emergent quantum confinement at topological insulator surfaces

Abstract

Bismuth-chalchogenides are model examples of three-dimensional topological insulators. Their ideal bulk-truncated surface hosts a single spin-helical surface state, which is the simplest possible surface electronic structure allowed by their non-trivial ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ topology. They are therefore widely regarded ideal templates to realize the predicted exotic phenomena and applications of this topological surface state. However, real surfaces of such compounds, even if kept in ultra-high vacuum, rapidly develop a much more complex electronic structure whose origin and properties have proved controversial. Here, we demonstrate that a conceptually simple model, implementing a semiconductor-like band bending in a parameter-free tight-binding supercell calculation, can quantitatively explain the entire measured hierarchy of electronic states. In combination with circular dichroism in angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) experiments, we further uncover a rich three-dimensional spin texture of this surface electronic system, resulting from the non-trivial topology of the bulk band structure. Moreover, our study reveals how the full surface-bulk connectivity in topological insulators is modified by quantum confinement.

9 pages, including supplementary information, 4+4 figures. A high resolution version is available at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~pdk6/pub_files/TI_quant_conf_high_res.pdf

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• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• Coexistence of the topological state and a two-dimensional electron gas on the surface of Bi2Se3
• Controlling bulk conductivity in topological insulators: Key role of anti-site defects
• Direct Measurement of the Out-of-Plane Spin Texture in the Dirac Cone Surface State of a Topological Insulator
• Spin-orbit interaction effect in the electronic structure of \BiTe \ observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
• Electron dynamics in topological insulator based semiconductor-metal interfaces (topological p-n interface based on Bi2Se3 class)

Cited by in corpus (68)

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• Control of spin-orbit torques by interface engineering in topological insulator heterostructures
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• Topological insulator based spin valve devices: evidence for spin polarized transport of spin-momentum-locked topological surface states
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• Nanowires: A route to efficient thermoelectric devices
• Fermi-Level Pinning, Charge Transfer, and Relaxation of Spin-Momentum Locking at Metal Contacts to Topological Insulators
• Singular robust room-temperature spin response from topological Dirac fermions
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• Magnetic Proximity Effect and Interlayer Exchange Coupling of Ferromagnetic/Topological Insulator/Ferromagnetic Trilayer
• Experimental evidence and control of the bulk-mediated intersurface coupling in topological insulator Bi2Te2Se nanoribbons
• Origins of electronic bands in antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi${}_2$Te${}_4$
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• Angle-resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy Study on the Surface States of the Correlated Topological Insulator YbB6
• The momentum and photon energy dependence of the circular dichroic photoemission in the bulk Rashba semiconductors BiTeX (X = I, Br, Cl)
• Field-Effect Josephson Diode via Asymmetric Spin-Momentum-Locking States
• Pressure effects on crystal and electronic structure of bismuth tellurohalides
• Optical manipulation of Rashba-split 2-Dimensional Electron Gas
• Magnetic quantum phase transition in Cr-doped Bi2(SexTe1-x)3 driven by the Stark effect
• Dirac states with knobs on: interplay of external parameters and the surface electronic properties of 3D topological insulators
• Trigger of the ubiquitous surface band bending in 3D topological insulators
• Probing Dirac Fermion Dynamics in Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ Films with Scanning Tunneling Microscope
• Giant Inverse Rashba-Edelstein Effect: Application to Monolayer OsBi${}_2$
• Coexistence of bulk and surface states probed by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ with high charge-carrier density
• Quantum Confinement and Electronic Structure at the Surface of van der Waals Ferroelectric α-In${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Strongly anisotropic spin-orbit splitting in a two-dimensional electron gas
• Modeling Near-Surface Bound Electron States in Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator: Analytical and Numerical Approaches
• Indications of the topological transport by the universal conductance fluctuations in the Bi2Te2Se microflakes
• Large Bilinear Magnetoresistance from Rashba Spin-Splitting on the Surface of a Topological Insulator
• Controlling the 2DEG states evolution at a metal/Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ interface
• Surface states and local spin susceptibility in doped three-dimensional topological insulators with odd-parity superconducting pairing symmetry
• Giant plateau in the THz Faraday angle in gated Bi2Se3
• Orbital mapping of energy bands and the truncated spin polarization in three-dimensional Rashba semiconductors
• A Novel Ferroelectric Rashba Semiconductor
• Josephson Effect and Charge Distribution in Thin Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ Topological Insulators
• Topological insulator spin transistor
• Spin-Polarized Quantum Well States on Bi${}_{2-x}$Fe${}_x$Se${}_3$
• Band tilt induced nonlinear Nernst effect in topological insulators: An efficient generation of high-performance spin polarization
• Spin-Hall effect due to the bulk states of topological insulators: Extrinsic contribution to the conserved spin current
• Observation of Weyl and Dirac fermions at smooth topological Volkov-Pankratov heterojunctions
• Opposite current-induced spin polarizations in bulk-metallic Bi2Se3 and bulk-insulating Bi2Te2Se topological insulator thin flakes
• Unified Framework for Charge-Spin Interconversion in Spin-Orbit Materials
• Ultrafast Evolution of Bulk, Surface and Surface Resonance States in Photoexcited Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Controlling and distinguishing electronic transport of topological and trivial surface states in a topological insulator
• Emergence of Quantum Confinement in Topological Kagome Superconductor CsV${}_3$Sb${}_5$ family
• Spin torque and persistent currents caused by percolation of topological surface states
• Dynamic Opening of a Gap in Dirac Surface States of the Thin-Film 3D Topological Insulator Bi2Se3 Driven by the Dynamic Rashba Effect
• A generic model with unconventional Rashba bands and giant spin galvanic effect
• Direct Visualization and Manipulation of Tunable Quantum Well State in Semiconducting Nb2SiTe4
• Experimental observation and spin texture of Dirac node arcs in tetradymite topological metals
• Topological Insulators-Based Magnetic Heterostructure
• A Laser-ARPES View of the 2D Electron Systems at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 and Al/SrTiO3 Interfaces
• Effect of confinement and Coulomb interactions on the electronic structure of (111) LaAlO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ interface
• Duality and degeneracy lifting in two-dimensional electron liquids on SrTiO${}_3$(001)
• Universal Conductance Fluctuations of Topological Insulators
• Electrical spin injection into graphene from a topological insulator in a van der Waals heterostructure
• The electronic structure of Mn${}_{1-x}$Pb${}_x$Bi${}_2$Te${}_4$: experimental evidence of topological phase transition
• Terahertz time-domain signatures of the inverse Edelstein effect in topological-insulator|ferromagnet heterostructures
• Quantum-Confined Tunable Ferromagnetism on the Surface of a van der Waals Antiferromagnet NaCrTe2
• Spin texture tunability in Mn${}_{1-x}$Ge${}_x$Bi${}_2$Te${}_4$ through varying Ge Concentration
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• Engineering Topological Nodal Line Semimetals in Rashba Spin-Orbit Coupled Atomic Chains
• Quantum Shape Effects