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Anomalous anisotropic magnetoresistance in topological insulator films

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Abstract

Topological insulators are insulating in the bulk but possess spin-momentum locked metallic surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry. The existence of these surface states has been confirmed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Detecting these surface states by transport measurements, which might at first appear to be the most direct avenue, was shown to be much more challenging than expected. Here, we report a detailed electronic transport study in high quality Bi2Se3 topological insulator thin films. Interestingly, measurements under an in-plane magnetic field, along and perpendicular to the bias current show anomalous opposite magnetoresistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Jian Wang & Yi Sun

  2. The Center for Nanoscale Science and Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802-6300, USA

    Jian Wang, Joon Sue Lee, Nitin Samarth & Moses H. W. Chan

  3. Physics Department, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Handong Li, Haizhou Lu, Shunqing Shen & Maohai Xie

  4. State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610054, China

    Handong Li

  5. Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Cuizu Chang, Ke He, Xucun Ma & Qikun Xue

  6. Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Cuizu Chang & Qikun Xue

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  1. Jian Wang
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Correspondence to Moses H. W. Chan.

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Wang, J., Li, H., Chang, C. et al. Anomalous anisotropic magnetoresistance in topological insulator films. Nano Res. 5, 739–746 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-012-0260-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-012-0260-z

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