Observation of Anderson Localization in Ultrathin Films of Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators

被引：92

作者：

Liao, Jian ^{[1
]}

Ou, Yunbo ^{[1
]}

Feng, Xiao ^{[2
]}

Yang, Shuo ^{[1
]}

Lin, Chaojing ^{[1
]}

Yang, Wenmin ^{[1
]}

Wu, Kehui ^{[1
]}

He, Ke ^{[2
]}

Ma, Xucun ^{[2
]}

Xue, Qi-Kun ^{[2
]}

Li, Yongqing ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Phys, Beijing Natl Lab Condensed Matter Phys, Beijing 100190, Peoples R China

[2] Tsinghua Univ, Dept Phys, State Key Lab Low Dimens Quantum Phys, Beijing 100084, Peoples R China

来源：

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS | 2015年 / 114卷 / 21期

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

SPIN-ORBIT SCATTERING; RANGE-HOPPING REGIME; NEGATIVE MAGNETOCONDUCTANCE; WEAK ANTILOCALIZATION; QUANTUM-INTERFERENCE; ELECTRONS; BI2SE3; CONDUCTION; TRANSPORT; SURFACE;

D O I：

10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.216601

中图分类号：

O4 [物理学];

学科分类号：

0702 ;

摘要：

Anderson localization, the absence of diffusive transport in disordered systems, has been manifested as hopping transport in numerous electronic systems, whereas in recently discovered topological insulators it has not been directly observed. Here, we report experimental demonstration of a crossover from diffusive transport in the weak antilocalization regime to variable range hopping transport in the Anderson localization regime with ultrathin (Bi1-xSbx)(2)Te-3 films. As disorder becomes stronger, negative magneto-conductivity due to the weak antilocalization is gradually suppressed, and eventually, positive magneto-conductivity emerges when the electron system becomes strongly localized. This work reveals the critical role of disorder in the quantum transport properties of ultrathin topological insulator films, in which theories have predicted rich physics related to topological phase transitions.

引用

页数：5

共 65 条

[1] SCALING THEORY OF LOCALIZATION - ABSENCE OF QUANTUM DIFFUSION IN 2 DIMENSIONS [J].