Collective excitations on a surface of topological insulator

Details Collective excitations on a surface of topological insulator Collective excitations on a surface of topological insulator

2011-10-18

arxiv.org/abs/1110.4023v1

Physics

Condensed Matter

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

9 pages, 6 figures

Scientific paper

We study collective excitations in a helical electron liquid on a surface of three-dimensional topological insulator. Electron in helical liquid obeys Dirac-like equation for massless particless and direction of its spin is strictly determined by its momentum. Due to this spin-momentum locking, collective excitations in the system manifest themselves as coupled charge- and spin-density waves. We develop quantum field-theoretical description of spin-plasmons in helical liquid and study their properties and internal structure. Value of spin polarization arising in the system with excited spin-plasmons is calculated. We also consider the scattering of spin-plasmons on magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities and external potentials, and show that the scattering occurs mainly into two side lobes. Analogies with Dirac electron gas in graphene are discussed.

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