How to probe the spin contribution to momentum relaxation in topological insulators

Moon-Sun Nam (), Benjamin H. Williams, Yulin Chen, Sonia Contera, Shuhua Yao, Minghui Lu, Yan-Feng Chen, Grigore A. Timco, Christopher A. Muryn, Richard E. P. Winpenny and Arzhang Ardavan ()
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Moon-Sun Nam: University of Oxford
Benjamin H. Williams: University of Oxford
Yulin Chen: University of Oxford
Sonia Contera: University of Oxford
Shuhua Yao: Nanjing University
Minghui Lu: Nanjing University
Yan-Feng Chen: Nanjing University
Grigore A. Timco: The University of Manchester
Christopher A. Muryn: The University of Manchester
Richard E. P. Winpenny: The University of Manchester
Arzhang Ardavan: University of Oxford

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Topological insulators exhibit a metallic surface state in which the directions of the carriers’ momentum and spin are locked together. This characteristic property, which lies at the heart of proposed applications of topological insulators, protects carriers in the surface state from back-scattering unless the scattering centres are time-reversal symmetry breaking (i.e. magnetic). Here, we introduce a method of probing the effect of magnetic scattering by decorating the surface of topological insulators with molecules, whose magnetic degrees of freedom can be engineered independently of their electrostatic structure. We show that this approach allows us to separate the effects of magnetic and non-magnetic scattering in the perturbative limit. We thereby confirm that the low-temperature conductivity of SmB6 is dominated by a surface state and that the momentum of quasiparticles in this state is particularly sensitive to magnetic scatterers, as expected in a topological insulator.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02420-4

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