Tunable spin helical Dirac quasiparticles on the surface of three-dimensional HgTe

Chang Liu, Guang Bian, Tay Rong Chang, Kedong Wang, Su Yang Xu, Ilya Belopolski, Irek Miotkowski, Helin Cao, Koji Miyamoto, Chaoqiang Xu, Christian E. Matt, Thorsten Schmitt, Nasser Alidoust, Madhab Neupane, Horng Tay Jeng, Hsin Lin, Arun Bansil, Vladimir N. Strocov, Mark Bissen, Alexei V. FedorovXudong Xiao, Taichi Okuda, Yong P. Chen, M. Zahid Hasan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

We show with systematic photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy data that a spin helical surface state appears on the (110) surface of noncentrosymmetric, three-dimensional HgTe. The topological surface state in HgTe exhibits sharp, linear dispersion without kz variation, as well as clear, left-right imbalanced spin polarization and circular dichroism. Chemical gating by alkali metal deposition on the surface causes the unexpected opening and/or increase of a surface insulating gap without changing its topological property. Such an unusual behavior we uncover in three-dimensional HgTe sheds light on a convenient control of the Fermi surface and quantum transport in a topological insulator.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number115436
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume92
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 22 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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