Spin-helical transport in normal and superconducting topological insulators
arXiv:1208.1466 · doi:10.1002/pssb.201248385
Abstract
In a topological insulator (TI) the character of electron transport varies from insulating in the interior of the material to metallic near its surface. Unlike, however, ordinary metals, conducting surface states in TIs are topologically protected and characterized by spin helicity whereby the direction of the electron spin is locked to the momentum direction. In this paper we review selected topics regarding recent theoretical and experimental work on electron transport and related phenomena in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) TIs. The review provides a focused introductory discussion of the quantum spin Hall effect in HgTe quantum wells as well as transport properties of 3DTIs such as surface weak antilocalization, the half-integer quantum Hall effect, s + p-wave induced superconductivity, superconducting Klein tunneling, topological Andreev bound states and related Majorana midgap states. These properties of TIs are of practical interest, guiding the search for the routes towards topological spin electronics.
Invited Topical Review on electron transport in 2D and 3D topological insulators, with focus on the quantum spin-Hall effect, weak antilocalization, half-integer quantum Hall effect, s- and p-wave induced superconductivity and superconducting Klein tunneling; 18 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in Physica Status Solidi B
References in corpus (44)
- The electronic properties of graphene
- Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells
- Non-Abelian Anyons and Topological Quantum Computation
- Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells
- Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
- Topological Insulators with Inversion Symmetry
- Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
- A topological Dirac insulator in a quantum spin Hall phase : Experimental observation of first strong topological insulator
- Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators
- First direct observation of Spin-textures in Topological Insulators : Spin-resolved ARPES as a probe of topological quantum spin Hall effect and Berry's phase
- Phase transition between the quantum spin Hall and insulator phases in 3D: emergence of a topological gapless phase
- Weak localisation magnetoresistance and valley symmetry in graphene
- Nonlocal edge state transport in the quantum spin Hall state
- The Quantum Spin Hall Effect: Theory and Experiment
- Gate-Voltage Control of Chemical Potential and Weak Anti-localization in Bismuth Selenide
- Electrically detected interferometry of Majorana fermions in a topological insulator
- Finite size effects of helical edge states in HgTe/CdTe quantum wells
- Bulk Fermi surface coexistence with Dirac surface state in BiSe: a comparison of photoemission and Shubnikov-de Haas measurements
- Impurity effect on weak anti-localization in the topological insulator Bi2Te3
- Bulk Band Gap and Surface State Conduction Observed in Voltage-Tuned Crystals of the Topological Insulator BiSe
- Strong surface scattering in ultrahigh mobility Bi2Se3 topological insulator crystals
- Observation of Dirac Holes and Electrons in a Topological Insulator
- Single valley Dirac fermions in zero-gap HgTe quantum wells
- Tunable Surface Conductivity in Bi2Se3 Revealed in Diffusive Electron Transport
- Direct Evidence for the Dirac-Cone Topological Surface States in Ternary Chalcogenide TlBiSe2
- Proximity effect at the superconductor - topological insulator interface
- Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in disordered topological insulator nanowires
- Engineering a p+ip Superconductor: Comparison of Topological Insulator and Rashba Spin-Orbit Coupled Materials
- Quantum interference and Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in topological insulators
- Weak Localization and Antilocalization in Topological Insulator Thin Films with Coherent Bulk-Surface Coupling
- Edge Dynamics in a Quantum Spin Hall State: Effects from Rashba Spin-Orbit Interaction
- Intrinsic Spin Hall Effect Induced by Quantum Phase Transition in HgCdTe Quantum Wells
- Magnetic properties of HgTe quantum wells
- Surface and Edge States in Topological Semi-metals
- Current-phase relation for Josephson effect through helical metal
- Terahertz Quantum Hall Effect in a Topological Insulator
- Anomalous Hall response of topological insulators
- Nonlocal transport near the charge neutrality point in a two-dimensional electron-hole system
- Optical manipulation of edge state transport in HgTe quantum wells in the quantum hall regime
- Dephasing of spin and charge interference in helical Luttinger liquids
- Dirac fermion quantization on graphene edges: Isospin-orbit coupling, zero modes and spontaneous valley polarization
- Inelastic Electron Tunneling Spectroscopy for Topological Insulators
- Dynamics of the (spin-) Hall effect in topological insulators and graphene
- Probing the Band Topology of Mercury Telluride through Weak Localization and Antilocalization