Low carrier concentration crystals of the topological insulator Bi${}_{2-x}$Sb${}_x$Te${}_{3-y}$Se${}_y$: a magnetotransport study

Abstract

In 3D topological insulators achieving a genuine bulk-insulating state is an important research topic. Recently, the material system (Bi,Sb)${}_2$(Te,Se)${}_3$ (BSTS) has been proposed as a topological insulator with high resistivity and a low carrier concentration (Ren \textit{et al.} \cite{Ren2011}). Here we present a study to further refine the bulk-insulating properties of BSTS. We have synthesized Bi${}_{2-x}$Sb${}_x$Te${}_{3-y}$Se${}_y$ single crystals with compositions around $x=0.5$ and $y=1.3$. Resistance and Hall effect measurements show high resistivity and record low bulk carrier density for the composition Bi${}_{1.46}$Sb${}_{0.54}$Te${}_{1.7}$Se${}_{1.3}$. The analysis of the resistance measured for crystals with different thicknesses within a parallel resistor model shows that the surface contribution to the electrical transport amounts to 97% when the sample thickness is reduced to $1\mu$m. The magnetoconductance of exfoliated BSTS nanoflakes shows 2D weak antilocalization with $\alpha \simeq -1$ as expected for transport dominated by topological surface states.

arXiv comment16 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of Physics

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• Realization of a vertical topological p-n junction in epitaxial $\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{b}}_2\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_3/B{\mathrm{i}}_2\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_3$ heterostructures
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• Electronic structure of the candidate 2D Dirac semimetal SrMnSb2: a combined experimental and theoretical study
• High-frequency nonlinear transport and photogalvanic effects in two-dimensional topological insulators
• 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
• Surface-state-dominated transport in crystals of the topological crystalline insulator In-doped Pb${}_{1-x}$Sn${}_x$Te
• Andreev reflection in s-type superconductor proximized 3D topological insulator
• 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${}_{1.3}$
• Signatures of dephasing by mirror-symmetry breaking in weak-antilocalization magnetoresistance across the topological transition in Pb${}_{1-x}$Sn${}_x$Se
• Angle-resolved and core-level photoemission study of interfacing the topological insulator Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3 with Ag, Nb and Fe
• Quantum corrections to the magnetoconductivity of surface states in three-dimensional topological insulators
• Quantum oscillations of the topological surface states in low carrier concentration crystals of Bi${}_{2-x}$Sb${}_x$Te${}_{3-y}$Se${}_y$
• Revisiting the physical origin and nature of surface states in inverted-band semiconductors
• Room temperature nonlocal detection of charge-spin interconversion in a topological insulator
• Micro-metric electronic patterning of a topological band structure using a photon beam
• Topological delocalization and tuning of surface channel separation in Bi2Se2Te Topological Insulator Thin films
• Interplay between strain and size quantization in a class of topological insulators based on inverted-band semiconductors
• Influence of Device Geometry on Transport Properties of Topological Insulator Microflakes
• Emergence of a weak topological insulator from the Bi${}_x$Se${}_y$ family and the observation of weak anti-localization