Optical response and activity of ultrathin films of topological insulators

Fariborz Parhizgar, Ali G. Moghaddam, and Reza Asgari
Phys. Rev. B 92, 045429 – Published 27 July 2015

Abstract

We investigate the optical properties of ultrathin film of a topological insulator in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field. We show that due to the combination of the overlap between the surface states of the two layers and the magnetic field, the optical conductivity can show strong anisotropy. This leads to the effective optical activity of the ultrathin film by influencing the circularly polarized incident light. Intriguingly, for a range of magnetic fields, the reflected and transmitted lights exhibit elliptic character. Even for certain values almost linear polarizations are obtained, indicating that the thin film can act as a polaroid in reflection. All these features are discussed in the context of the time-reversal symmetry breaking as one of the key ingredients for the optical activity.

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  • Received 11 December 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.045429

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Fariborz Parhizgar1,*, Ali G. Moghaddam1,2,†, and Reza Asgari1,‡

  • 1School of Physics, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Tehran 19395-5531, Iran
  • 2Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Science (IASBS), Zanjan 45137-66731 Iran

  • *fariborz.parhizgar@ipm.ir
  • agorbanz@iasbs.ac.ir
  • asgari@ipm.ir

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Issue

Vol. 92, Iss. 4 — 15 July 2015

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