Topological surface currents accessed through reversible hydrogenation of the three-dimensional bulk

Haiming Deng, Lukas Zhao, Kyungwha Park, Jiaqiang Yan, Kamil Sobczak, Ayesha Lakra, Entela Buzi and Lia Krusin-Elbaum ()
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Haiming Deng: The City College of New York - CUNY
Lukas Zhao: The City College of New York - CUNY
Kyungwha Park: Virginia Tech
Jiaqiang Yan: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Kamil Sobczak: University of Warsaw
Ayesha Lakra: The City College of New York - CUNY
Entela Buzi: The City College of New York - CUNY
Lia Krusin-Elbaum: The City College of New York - CUNY

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Hydrogen, the smallest and most abundant element in nature, can be efficiently incorporated within a solid and drastically modify its electronic and structural state. In most semiconductors interstitial hydrogen binds to defects and is known to be amphoteric, namely it can act either as a donor (H+) or an acceptor (H−) of charge, nearly always counteracting the prevailing conductivity type. Here we demonstrate that hydrogenation resolves an outstanding challenge in chalcogenide classes of three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators and magnets — the control of intrinsic bulk conduction that denies access to quantum surface transport, imposing severe thickness limits on the bulk. With electrons donated by a reversible binding of H+ ions to Te(Se) chalcogens, carrier densities are reduced by over 1020cm−3, allowing tuning the Fermi level into the bulk bandgap to enter surface/edge current channels without altering carrier mobility or the bandstructure. The hydrogen-tuned topological nanostructures are stable at room temperature and tunable disregarding bulk size, opening a breadth of device platforms for harnessing emergent topological states.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29957-3

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