Bulk band gap and surface state conduction observed in voltage-tuned crystals of the topological insulator Bi₂Se₃

We report a transport study of exfoliated few monolayer crystals of topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ in an electric field effect geometry. By doping the bulk crystals with Ca, we are able to fabricate devices with sufficiently low bulk carrier density to change the sign of the Hall density with the gate voltage V_g. We find that the temperature T and magnetic field dependent transport properties in the vicinity of this V _g can be explained by a bulk channel with activation gap of approximately 50 meV and a relatively high-mobility metallic channel that dominates at low T. The conductance (approximately 2×7e2/h), weak antilocalization, and metallic resistance-temperature profile of the latter lead us to identify it with the protected surface state. The relative smallness of the observed gap implies limitations for electric field effect topological insulator devices at room temperature.