Phase Separation of Dirac Electrons in Topological Insulators at the Spatial Limit.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28026959.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03506.
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Abstract
In this work we present unique signatures manifested by the local electronic properties of the topological surface state in Bi<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> nanostructures as the spatial limit is approached. We concentrate on the pure nanoscale limit (nanoplatelets) with spatial electronic resolution down to 1 nm. The highlights include strong dependencies on nanoplatelet size: (1) observation of a phase separation of Dirac electrons whose length scale decreases as the spatial limit is approached, and (2) the evolution from heavily n-type to lightly n-type surface doping as nanoplatelet thickness increases. Our results show a new approach to tune the Dirac point together with reduction of electronic disorder in topological insulator (TI) nanostructured systems. We expect our work will provide a new route for application of these nanostructured Dirac systems in electronic devices.