Letter abstract
Nature Physics 5, 398 - 402 (2009)
Published online: 10 May 2009 | doi:10.1038/nphys1274
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics
Observation of a large-gap topological-insulator class with a single Dirac cone on the surface
Y. Xia1,2, D. Qian1,3, D. Hsieh1,2, L. Wray1, A. Pal1, H. Lin4, A. Bansil4, D. Grauer5, Y. S. Hor5, R. J. Cava5 & M. Z. Hasan1,2,6
Recent experiments and theories have suggested that strong spin–orbit coupling effects in certain band insulators can give rise to a new phase of quantum matter, the so-called topological insulator, which can show macroscopic quantum-entanglement effects1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Such systems feature two-dimensional surface states whose electrodynamic properties are described not by the conventional Maxwell equations but rather by an attached axion field, originally proposed to describe interacting quarks8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. It has been proposed that a topological insulator2 with a single Dirac cone interfaced with a superconductor can form the most elementary unit for performing fault-tolerant quantum computation14. Here we present an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study that reveals the first observation of such a topological state of matter featuring a single surface Dirac cone realized in the naturally occurring Bi2Se3 class of materials. Our results, supported by our theoretical calculations, demonstrate that undoped Bi2Se3 can serve as the parent matrix compound for the long-sought topological device where in-plane carrier transport would have a purely quantum topological origin. Our study further suggests that the undoped compound reached via n-to-p doping should show topological transport phenomena even at room temperature.
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
- Princeton Center for Complex Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
- Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China
- Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
- Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
Correspondence to: M. Z. Hasan1,2,6 e-mail: mzhasan@Princeton.edu
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Topological insulators The next generationNature Physics News and Views (01 Jun 2009)
Condensed matter An insulator with a twistNature Physics News and Views (01 May 2008)
See all 5 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
First-principles calculations predict that Bi First-principles calculations predict that BiNature Physics Article (01 Jun 2009)
A tunable topological insulator in the spin helical Dirac transport regimeNature Letters to Editor (27 Aug 2009)
See all 17 matches for Research
