Aharonov-Bohm Oscillations in Disordered Topological Insulator Nanowires

J. H. Bardarson, P. W. Brouwer, and J. E. Moore
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 156803 – Published 7 October 2010

Abstract

A direct signature of electron transport at the metallic surface of a topological insulator is the Aharonov-Bohm oscillation observed in a recent study of Bi2Se3 nanowires [Peng et al., Nature Mater. 9, 225 (2010)] where conductance was found to oscillate as a function of magnetic flux ϕ through the wire, with a period of one flux quantum ϕ0=h/e and maximum conductance at zero flux. This seemingly agrees neither with diffusive theory, which would predict a period of half a flux quantum, nor with ballistic theory, which in the simplest form predicts a period of ϕ0 but a minimum at zero flux due to a nontrivial Berry phase in topological insulators. We show how h/e and h/2e flux oscillations of the conductance depend on doping and disorder strength, provide a possible explanation for the experiments, and discuss further experiments that could verify the theory.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 14 July 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.156803

© 2010 The American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. H. Bardarson1,2, P. W. Brouwer3, and J. E. Moore1,2

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 3Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Institut für Theoretische Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 105, Iss. 15 — 8 October 2010

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×