The recent discoveries of topological insulators (TI) has opened a new realm for study¬ing topological systems and exploring the exotic properties they offer. The in-built topological protection against direct backscattering and absence of localization makes two-dimensional (2D) surface states of bismuth chalcogenide-based strong TI a promising platform for studying interesting phenomena in condensed matter physics like dissipation-less transport, quantum anomalous hall effect, topological magnetoelectric effect, majo¬rana fermions etc. and also makes this system very suitable for applications in the fields of electronics and spintronics. However, realization of these novel states can be difficult because of scattering of surface states from different types of disorders (intrinsic or ex¬trinsic) or the presence of parallel channels in the bulk of the sample which can dominate over surface transport. The main goal of this thesis is to evaluate the performance of TI as an electronic element and look into elastic and inelastic scattering processes and kinetics of these scatterers. In most part of this work we concentrate on the magnitude and origin of low-frequency flicker noise or the 1/f-noise, a key performance marker in electronics, to characterize the electrical transport in TI. In this work we have studied 1/f-noise in both mechanically exfoliated TI-flakes and epitaxially grown TI films by varying chemical potential and temperature. Our study of exfoliated TI-flakes with a wide range of thickness (10 nm to 80 μm) suggests that whereas at thinner (<100 nm) samples and at low temperature (<70 K), the electrical transport happens entirely at the surface, resistance fluctuations in the surface states are mainly caused by potential fluctuations caused by generation-recombination processes in the bulk of TI. Study of 1/f-noise in MBE-grown magnetically doped TI reveals signature of hopping transport through localized bulk mid gap states. These states can either be Cr-impurity band or disorder-induced mobility edge states of bulk valence band. Our study of quantum transport in exfoliated TI-devices indicate presence of a de-coherence mechanism which saturates phase-coherence length and temperature below T< 3 K and results from a unique scattering mechanism caused by localized magnetic moments in these systems

Orientador: Iakov Veniaminovitch Kopelevitch / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T01:33:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Baring_LuisAugustoGomes_D.pdf: 21081310 bytes, checksum: 275f0ba5ff80d6f9f19f53cf8316e1a6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: No presente trabalho estudamos os semimetais bismuto Bi, antimônio Sb e Bi1-xSbx, materiais com propriedades topologicamente não triviais. Observamos a ocorrência de supercondutividade intrínseca em bismuto com TC »= 8:5K. Construímos, a partir dos dados de magnetização e resistência, o diagrama de fase do campo crítico H versus a temperatura T. Esse diagrama de fase, pode ser ajustado segundo modelos da literatura válidos para supercondutividade granular. Detectamos, no bismuto, o aumento da corrente Josephson e acoplamento intergranular no limite quântico devidos à quantização de Landau. Isso se manifesta como uma supercondutividade reentrante. Foi também encontrada transição tipo metal-isolante induzida por campo magnético em todos os materiais estudados. O diagrama de fase H versus T mostra uma extraordinária semelhança entre os três materiais. A amostra Bi1-xSbx, com x = 0:052, revelou a ocorrência de transição semimetal-isolante topológico já em campo magnético zero. Fizemos uma comparação com resultados anteriores da literatura, analisando a dependência da temperatura em que ocorre essa transição em relação à concentração de antimônio x e ao campo magnético B e demonstramos a similaridade entre eles. Observamos, também, supercondutividade nos semimetais bismuto, antimônio e no Bi1-xSbx, induzida por dopagem com os metais ouro e índio, e mostramos que a supercondutividade está associada à interface entre os metais e os semimetais. Finalmente, encontramos a indução de supercondutividade mediante a aplicação de campo magnético em bismuto, consistente com a ocorrência de férmions de Majorana na interface entre esse material e a tinta prata usada para os contatos. Tal observação pode ser devida, também, à ocorrência de um estado supercondutor fora do equilíbrio. / Abstract: In this work we studied the semimetals bismuth Bi, antimony Sb and Bi1-xSbx, all of them with non-trivial topologic properties. We observed an intrinsic superconductivity in bismuth, with TC »= 8:5 K. The phasediagram of the critical field H versus the temperature T, based upon the magnetization and resistance data, may be well fitted according to theoretical models valid for granular superconductivity. We also detected, in bismuth, the increase of the Josephson current and interganular coupling in the quantum limit due to Landau quantization. This manifests itself as a reentrant superconducting state. Our results revealed a metal-insulator transition triggered by magnetic field, for all the studied materials. The phase diagram H ¡T shows a striking similarity between them. The sample Bi1-xSbx with x = 0:052 demonstrated a semimetal-insulator transition even at zero field. We compared our results with previous results of other groups and analyzed the temperature dependence of the transition as a function of the antimony amount x and the magnetic field B and demonstrated their similarity. We also observed supeerconductivity in the semimetals bismuth, antimony and Bi1-xSbx, triggered by doping with the metals gold and indium, and showed that the superconductivity is associated to the interface between the metals and the semimetals. Finally, we found the superconductivity induced by the aplication of magnetic field in bismuth, consistent with the Majorana fermions present in the interface between this material and the silver paste contacts. This may also be related to a non-equilibrium superconduting state. / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências

In Topologischen Isolatoren (TI) werden metallische Zustände an der Oberfläche beobachtet, während die entsprechenden Volumenzustände eine Bandlücke aufweisen. Der Volumenbeitrag zur Leitfähigkeit von TI-Materialien macht eine Synthese von Nanokristallen bzw. eine Dotierung nötig. Der Fokus der Untersuchungen dieser Arbeit liegt dabei auf der Erzeugung von Nanokristallen der TI-Materialien Bi2Te3- und Bi2Te2Se sowie dotierter Bi2Se3-Nanokristallen. Die Synthese der Nanokristalle erfolgte durch den Gasphasentransport im geschlossenen System über den Mechanismus einer Zersetzungssublimation bzw. unter dem Einsatz eines Transportmittels. Für eine erfolgreiche Erzeugung der Nanokristalle sind im Vorfeld thermodynamische Modellierungen des Gasphasentransports sowie Versuche zum chemischen Transport für die quasibinären Systeme Bi2Se3-Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3-Sb2Se3 und Bi2Se3-FeSe sowie für das ternäre System Mn-Bi-Se durchgeführt worden. Durch Versuche zum chemischen Transport konnten die Aussagen der Modellierung bestätigt und im Weiteren der Dotandengehalt in den abgeschiedenen Kristallen sowie der Einlagerungsmechanismus durch Ergebnisse aus XRD- und ICP-OES-Untersuchungen beschrieben werden. Die Synthese bzw. Dotierung der Nanokristalle wurde hauptsächlich durch die Transportrate und den Dampfdruck des Dotanden bestimmt. In den Systemen Bi2Se3-Bi2Te3 und Bi2Se3-Sb2Se3 ist ein Gasphasentransport über eine Zersetzungssublimation durchführbar und resultierte in einer erfolgreichen Darstellung von Bi2Te3- und Bi2Te2Se-Nanokristallen sowie von dotierten (SbxBi1-x)2Se3-Nanokristallen. Entgegen dessen erfolgte der Gasphasentransport in den Systemen Bi2Se3-FeSe und Mn-Bi-Se unter Verwendung eines Transportmittels. Hierbei verringerten die gesteigerten Transportraten das Wachtum von Nanokristallen. Im Weiteren gelang es dotierte (Fe,Mn)xBi2-xSe3-Volumenkristalle sowie MnBi2Se4-Einkristalle darzustellen und mittels XRD, ICP-OES, magnetischer Messungen sowie elektrischem Transport zu charakterisieren.

Topological insulators (TIs) are a new state of quantum matter that has fundamentally challenged our knowledge of insulator and metals. They are insulators in the bulk, but metallic on the edge. A TI is characterized by a so-called topological invariant. This characteristic integer number is associated to every mapping between two topological spaces and can be defined for an electronic system on the lattice. Due to the bulk-edge correspondence a non-trivial value leads to topologically protected edge states. To get insight into the electronic characteristics of these edge/surface states, however, an effective continuum theory is needed. Continuum models are analytical and are also able to model transport. In this thesis we will address the suitability of continuum low-energy theories to describe the topological characteristics of TIs. The models which are topologically well-defined are called topological k.p Hamiltonians. After introducing a necessary background in chapter 1 and 2, we will discuss in the methodological chapter 3 the strategies that have to be taken into account to allow for studying topological surface states. In chapter 4 we will study two different model classes associated to a spherical basis manifold. Both have an integer topological invariant, but one shows a marginal bulk-edge correspondence. In chapter 5 we will study a different continuum theory where the basis manifold corresponds to a hemisphere. We then apply all these ideas to a time-reversal invariant TI -- uniaxially strained Mercury Telluride (HgTe). We determine the spin textures of the topological surface states of strained HgTe using their close relations with the mirror Chern numbers of the system and the orbital composition of the surface states. We show that at the side surfaces with $C_{2v}$ point group symmetry an increase in the strain magnitude triggers a topological phase transition where the winding number of the surface state spin texture is flipped while the four topological invariants characterizing the bulk band structure are unchanged. In the last chapter we will give a summary.

Three-dimensional topological insulators are materials that have a bulk band gap like a traditional insulator, but which hold topologically protected conducting surface states. In this thesis we present a numerical analysis of the surface states of topological insulator nanowires in the tight-binding approximation. We carry out the calculations at zero temperature under the presence of coaxial and perpendicular magnetic fields using Dirac Hamiltonians to model the surface. The results are obtained using Kwant, a Python package first developed in 2014 by Groth et al. for the purpose of aiding in the creation of quantum transport simulations in tight-binding models. The main focus is the self-contained and complete study of the behaviour of the conductance in clean and disordered systems, as well as to serve as an introduction to Kwant. We first study the main properties of quantum transport in mesoscopic systems, and present the scattering problem in the tight-binding approximation, which is the one treated in Kwant. We review the main properties of topological insulators, as well as the history of their discovery. We then present Kwant in detail, and illustrate its inner workings by considering the example of a clean wire. We study clean wires and show the existence of the perfectly transmitted mode under a coaxial magnetic field, obtain the quantisation of the conductance expected from the Laundauer-Büttiker formalism, and recover Fabry-Pérot oscillations when considering highly doped leads. We discuss how disorder can be introduced in our systems to simulate more realistic models, analyse its effects in the period of the conductance oscillations, and recover the robustness to disorder of the perfectly transmitted mode. Finally, we comment on how this thesis can be expanded to cover a wider range of systems and phenomena. / Tredimensionella topologiska isolatorer är material som har ett bulkbandgap som traditionella isolatorer, men som har topologiskt skyddade ledande yttilstånd. I detta arbete presenterar vi en numerisk analys av yttilstånden hos topologiska isolator nanotrådar i tight-binding approximationen vid nolltemperatur, under närvaron av koaxiala och vinkelräta magnetfält med användning av Dirac-Hamiltonians för att modellera ytan. Resultaten erhålls med hjälp av Kwant, ett Python-paket som först utvecklades 2014 av Groth et al. i syfte att underlätta skapandet av simuleringar för kvanttransport i tight-binding modeller. Huvudfokus ligger på en självständig och komplett studie av beteendet hos konduktansen i rena och oordnade system, samt att fungera som en introduktion till Kwant. Vi studerar först de huvudsakliga egenskaperna hos kvanttransport i mesoskopiska system och presenterar spridningsproblemet i tight-binding approximationen, vilket är det som behandlas i Kwant. Dessutom går vi igenom de viktigaste egenskaperna hos topologiska isolatorer, samt deras upptäckthistoria. Sedan pre- senterar vi Kwant i detalj och illustrerar dess inre funktioner genom att titta på en ren tråd. Vi studerar rena trådar och visar förekomsten av det perfekt överförda läget under ett koaxialt magnetfält, erhåller kvantiseringen av den förväntade konduktansen från Laundauer-Büttiker-formalismen och återfår Fabry-Pérot-oscillationer när vi överväger starkt dopade ledare. Sedan diskuterar vi hur oordning kan införas i våra system för att simulera mer realistiska modeller, analysera dess effekter under tiden för oscillationer vid konduktans och återfå robustheten mot oordning av det perfekt överförda läget. Slutligen kommenterar vi hur detta arbete kan utvidgas för att täcka ett bredare spektrum av system och fenomen.

<p>The capability of manipulation of the flow of mechanical energy in the form of mechanical waves (including acoustic and elastic waves) has always been a challenge and a critical part in various areas of engineering. The recent advances in topological acoustic/elastic metamaterials certainly open a new pathway to the manipulation of mechanical waves, especially for the novel scattering-immune wave-guiding capability, even in the presence of defects, disorders or sharp bends along the waveguide. In this Dissertation, the theoretical background and experimental evidence of various types of elastic-wave topological metamaterials including analogues to 2D quantum valley Hall effect (QVHE) materials, 2D quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) topological insulators are presented. First, the formulation the elastic-wave analogue to QVHE materials in a general continuous elastic phononic structure (not limited to local resonant lattices, filling the gap in the literature) is proposed, and a strategy using pressurized cells to actively control the phononic lattice is presented. By finite prestrain and geometric nonlinear effect, the space inversion symmetry of the original hexagonal lattice is broken, resulting in distinct QVHE phases (characterized by valley Chern numbers) in lattice domains with opposite pressurization. With such mechanism, the edge-state path, i.e., the domain wall connecting lattices with distinct QVHE phases, can be real-time configured. Further more, edge states with tunable frequency-wavenumber dispersion can be created at the external boundaries of the lattice by appropriate pressurization of the outermost cells. An aluminum reticular sheet built with water-jet cutting is machined in the pre-deformed pattern with a Z-shape domain wall at the center, which spatially divides the sheet into two domains with opposite QVHE phases. Using piezoelectric transducers and laser Doppler vibrometry, the measured harmonic and transient responses confirm the back-scattering-immunity of the topological edge states, and the frequency-wavenumber dispersion matches the numerical prediction. A strategy is proposed for unidirectionally generating edge states along the domain wall using two off-phase transducers, which is also experimentally demonstrated. For elastic-wave analogue to QSHE topological insulators, we focus on the ``zone-folding'' method and propose a honeycomb 2D elastic beam network with periodically altered thickness with a generalized Kekule distortion pattern. Such framework provides a parametric space with exhaustive control in the topological phase diagram of waves in the lattice compared to earlier works in the literature. The effective Hamiltonian as well as the characterized topological phase are gauge dependent, particularly they change with different reference frames. This lead to ambiguity in the topological phase of such phononic crystal. Based on this argument, it is predicted that edge states could exist at a dislocation interface connecting two piece of phononic structures of the same pattern with relative displacement. Following the same idea, but considering the available fabrication options, a phononic plate with honeycomb groove pattern engraved on both sides is built, which the depth varied according to the Kekule pattern. With proper tuning of the parameters, it realizes an analogue to the QSHE topological insulator. With <em>ab initio</em> calculation of the Berry curvature (without involving any approximations such as the perturbative approach), a new topological invariant <em>local topological charge</em> is defined and evaluated as the counterpart of the Z₂ invariant in the classical-wave-zone-folding analogue. The local topological charge has intrinsic ambiguity and its value depends on the selected reference frame. However, its <em>change </em>according to changes in the parameters, under a consistent reference frame, is well-defined. Given the fact that shifting the reference frame by certain fractions of a lattice constant was equivalent to changing one of the parameters by a certain amount, it also lead to a well-defined change in the local topological charge, which indicates topological phase transition, and one can predict the existence of edge states at the displacement-dislocation interface between two neighboring lattices having the same pattern up to a rigid-body shifting. The phononic plate is machined by a CNC mill, and the experiment is carried out using piezoelectric transducers and laser Doppler vibrometry, which confirms the existence and robustness of the topological edge states at such dislocation interface connecting identical pattern, which was unprecedented in both quantum and classical systems. The final part of this Dissertation focuses on creating classical mechanical analogues to the 1D Kitaev superconducting model and Majorana-like bound states aimed at future acoustic-wave based computation.</p>

No description available.

No description available.

In this thesis, we investigate the quantum transport properties of disordered three dimensional topological insulator (3DTI) nanostructures of BiSe and BiTe in detail. Despite their intrinsic bulk conductivity, we show the possibility to study the specific transport properties of the topological surface states (TSS), either with or without quantum confinement. Importantly, we demonstrate that unusual transport properties not only come from the Dirac nature of the quasi-particles, but also from their spin texture. Without quantum confinement (wide ribbons), the transport properties of diffusive 2D spin-helical Dirac fermions are investigated. Using high magnetic fields allows us to measure and separate all contributions to charge transport. Band bending is investigated in BiSe nanostructures, revealing an inversion from upward to downward bending when decreasing the bulk doping. This result points out the need to control simultaneously both the bulk and surface residual doping in order to produce bulk-depleted nanostructures and to study TSS only. Moreover, Shubnikov-de-Haas oscillations and transconductance measurements are used to measure the ratio of the transport length to the electronic mean free path ltr/le. This ratio is measured to be close to one for bulk states, whereas it is close to 8 for TSS, which is a hallmark of the anisotropic scattering of spin-helical Dirac fermions. With transverse quantum confinement (narrow wires or ribbons), the ballistic transport of quasi-1D surface modes is evidenced by mesoscopic transport measurements, and specific properties due to their topological nature are revealed at very low temperatures. The metallic surface states are directly evidenced by the measure of periodic Aharonov-Bohm oscillations (ABO) in 3DTI nanowires. Their exponential temperature dependence gives an unusual power-law temperature dependence of the phase coherence length, which is interpreted in terms of quasi-ballistic transport and decoherence in the weak-coupling regime. This remarkable finding is a consequence of the enhanced transport length, which is comparable to the perimeter. Besides, the ballistic transport of quasi-1D surface modes is further evidenced by the observation of non-universal conductance fluctuations in a BiSe nanowire, despite the long-length limit (L > ltr) and a high metallicity (many modes). We show that such an unusual property for a mesoscopic conductor is related to the limited mixing of the transverse modes by disorder, as confirmed by numerical calculations. Importantly, a model based on the modes' transmissions allows us to describe our experimental results, including the full temperature dependence of the ABO amplitude.

Technology where a solitary dopant acts as the active component of an opto-electronic device is an emerging  field known as solotronics, and bears the promise to revolutionize the way in which information is stored, processed and transmitted. Magnetic doped semiconductors and in particular (Ga, Mn)As, the archetype of dilute magnetic semiconductors, and topological insulators (TIs), a new phase of quantum matter with unconventional characteristics, are two classes of quantum materials that have the potential to advance spin-electronics technology. The quest to understand and control, at the atomic level, how a few magnetic atoms precisely positioned in a complex environment respond to external stimuli, is the red thread that connects these two quantum materials in the research presented here. The goal of the thesis is in part to elucidate the properties of transition metal (TM) impurities near the surface of GaAs semiconductors with focus on their response to local magnetic and electric fields, as well as to investigate the real-time dynamics of their localized spins. Our theoretical analysis, based on density functional theory (DFT) and using tight-binding (TB) models, addresses the mid-gap electronic structure, the local density of states (LDOS) and the magnetic anisotropy energy of individual Mn and Fe impurities near the (110) surface of GaAs. We investigate the effect of a magnetic field on the Mn acceptor LDOS measured in cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy, and provide an explanation of why the experimental LDOS images depend weakly on the field direction despite the strongly anisotropic nature of the Mn acceptor wavefunction. We also investigate the effects of a local electrostatic field generated by nearby charged As vacancies, on individual and pairs of ferromagnetically coupled magnetic dopants near the surface of GaAs, providing a means to control electrically the exchange interaction of Mn pairs. Finally, using the mixed quantum-classical scheme for spin dynamics, we calculate explicitly the time evolution of the Mn spin and its bound acceptor, and analyze the dynamic interaction between pairs of ferromagnetically coupled magnetic impurities in a nanoscaled semiconductor. The second part of the thesis deals with the theoretical investigation of a single substitutional Mn impurity and its associated acceptor state on the (111) surface of Bi2Se3 TI, using an approach that combines DFT and TB calculations. Our analysis clarifies the crucial role played by the spatial overlap and the quasi-resonant coupling between the Mn-acceptor and the topological surface states inside the Bi2Se3 band gap, in the opening of a gap at the Dirac point. Strong electronic correlations are also found to contribute significantly to the mechanism leading to the gap, since they control the hybridization between the p orbitals of nearest-neighbor Se atoms and the acceptor spin-polarization. Our results explain the effects of inversion-symmetry and time-reversal symmetry breaking on the electronic states in the vicinity of the Dirac point, and contribute to clarifying the origin of surface-ferromagnetism in TIs. The promising potential of magnetic-doped TIs accentuates the importance of our contribution to the understanding of the interplay between magnetic order and topological protected surface states.