Interplay between Topological States and Rashba States as Manifested on Surface Steps at Room Temperature

Abstract

The unique spin texture of quantum states in topological materials underpins many proposed spintronic applications. However, realizations of such great potential are stymied by perturbations, such as temperature and local fields imposed by impurities and defects, that can render a promising quantum state uncontrollable. Here, we report room-temperature observation of interaction between Rashba states and topological surface states, which manifests unique spin textures controllable by layer thickness of thin films. Specifically, we combine scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy with the first-principles theoretical calculation to find the robust Rashba states coexisting with topological surface states along the surface steps with characteristic spin textures in momentum space. The Rashba edge states can be switched off by reducing the thickness of a topological insulator Bi2Se3 to bolster their interaction with the hybridized topological surface states. The study unveils a manipulating mechanism of the spin textures at room temperature, reinforcing the necessity of thin film technology in controlling quantum states.

References in corpus (30)

• Topological Insulators
• Topological insulators and superconductors
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• Spin Transfer Torque Generated by the Topological Insulator Bi_2Se_3
• Crossover of Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator of Bi2Se3 to the Two-Dimensional Limit
• STM Spectroscopy of ultra-flat graphene on hexagonal boron nitride
• Linear-scaling ab-initio calculations for large and complex systems
• A conductive topological insulator with colossal spin Hall effect for ultra-low power spin-orbit-torque switching
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• Epitaxial growth of topological insulator Bi2Se3 film on Si(111) with atomically sharp interface
• Rashba spin-splitting control at the surface of the topological insulator Bi2Se3
• Electrical detection of the spin polarization due to charge flow in the surface state of the topological insulator Bi_1.5 Sb_0.5 Te_1.7 Se_1.3
• Room Temperature Electrical Detection of Spin Polarized Currents in Topological Insulators
• Transport Properties of Topological Insulators: Band Bending, Bulk Metal-to-Insulator Transition, and Weak Anti-Localization
• Electrical injection and detection of spin-polarized currents in topological insulator Bi2Te2Se
• STM imaging of impurity resonances on Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Mapping the chemical potential dependence of current-induced spin polarization in a topological insulator
• Direct comparison of current-induced spin polarization in topological insulator Bi2Se3 and InAs Rashba states
• STM imaging of a bound state along a step on the surface of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Probing the wavefunction of the surface states in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ topological insulator: a realistic tight-binding approach
• Experimental search for one-dimensional edge states at surface steps of the topological insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$: Distinguishing between effects and artifacts
• Opposite current-induced spin polarizations in bulk-metallic Bi2Se3 and bulk-insulating Bi2Te2Se topological insulator thin flakes
• Connection topology of step edge state bands at the surface of a three dimensional topological insulator
• Correspondence: Reply to "On the understanding of current-induced spin polarization of 3D topological insulators"

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Reversible Modification of Rashba States in Topological Insulators at Room Temperature by Edge Functionalization
• Nucleation and Antiphase Twin Control in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ via Step-Terminated Al${}_2$O${}_3$ Substrates
• Interplay between surface Dirac and Rashba states specific for topologically nontrivial van der Waals superlattices