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Control over topological insulator photocurrents with light polarization

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 96–100 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Three-dimensional topological insulators1,2,3 represent a new quantum phase of matter with spin-polarized surface states4,5 that are protected from backscattering. The static electronic properties of these surface states have been comprehensively imaged by both photoemission4,5,6,7,8 and tunnelling9,10 spectroscopies. Theorists have proposed that topological surface states can also exhibit novel electronic responses to light, such as topological quantum phase transitions11,12,13 and spin-polarized electrical currents14,15. However, the effects of optically driving a topological insulator out of equilibrium have remained largely unexplored experimentally, and no photocurrents have been measured. Here, we show that illuminating the topological insulator Bi2Se3 with circularly polarized light generates a photocurrent that originates from topological helical Dirac fermions, and that reversing the helicity of the light reverses the direction of the photocurrent. We also observe a photocurrent that is controlled by the linear polarization of light and argue that it may also have a topological surface state origin. This approach may allow the probing of dynamic properties of topological insulators11,12,13,14,15 and lead to novel opto-spintronic devices16.

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Figure 1: Isolation of a photocurrent response from a thermoelectric current background.
Figure 2: Surface photocurrent originating from helical Dirac fermions.
Figure 3: Distinct photocurrent contributions separated by temperature dependence.
Figure 4: Microscopic mechanisms of photocurrent generation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) (award no. DE-FG02-08ER46521), and was performed in part at the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems. Use was made of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center Shared Experimental Facilities supported by the NSF (award no. DMR–0819762). J.W.M. acknowledges financial support from an NSF graduate research fellowship. D.H. acknowledges support from a Pappalardo postdoctoral fellowship. H.S. acknowledges support from the Israeli Ministry of Science. P.J-H. acknowledges support from a DOE Early Career Award (no. DE.SC0006418) and a Packard Fellowship.

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  1. J. W. McIver and D. Hsieh: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    J. W. McIver, D. Hsieh, H. Steinberg, P. Jarillo-Herrero & N. Gedik

  2. Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    J. W. McIver

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  1. J. W. McIver
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All authors made critical contributions to this work.

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Correspondence to N. Gedik.

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McIver, J., Hsieh, D., Steinberg, H. et al. Control over topological insulator photocurrents with light polarization. Nature Nanotech 7, 96–100 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.214

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