Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators

Details Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators

2011-05-10

arxiv.org/abs/1105.1957v1

Physical Review B 84, 235447 (2011)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

4 pages, 3 figures

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevB.84.235447

We propose a general theory on the standing waves (quasiparticle interference pattern) caused by the scattering of surface states off step edges in topological insulators, in which the extremal points on the constant energy contour of surface band play the dominant role. Experimentally we image the interference patterns on both Bi$_2$Te$_3$ and Bi$_2$Se$_3$ films by measuring the local density of states using a scanning tunneling microscope. The observed decay indices of the standing waves agree excellently with the theoretical prediction: In Bi$_2$Se$_3$, only a single decay index of -3/2 exists; while in Bi$_2$Te$_3$ with strongly warped surface band, it varies from -3/2 to -1/2 and finally to -1 as the energy increases. The -1/2 decay indicates that the suppression of backscattering due to time-reversal symmetry does not necessarily lead to a spatial decay rate faster than that in the conventional two-dimensional electron system. Our formalism can also explain the characteristic scattering wave vectors of the standing wave caused by non-magnetic impurities on Bi$_2$Te$_3$.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-279605