2013•arXiv (Cornell University)Open access
Tunable Dirac Fermion Dynamics in Topological Insulators
Kai Chen, Zhuojin Xie, Ya Feng, Hemian Yi, Aiji Liang, Shaolong He, Daixiang Mou, Jun-Feng He, Y. Y. Peng, Xu Liu, Yan Liu, Lin Zhao, Guodong Liu, Xiaoli Dong, Jun Zhang, Yu Li, Xiaoyang Wang, Qinjun Peng, Zhimin Wang, Shenjin Zhang, Feng Yang, Chuangtian Chen, Zuyan Xu, Xingjiang Zhou
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Abstract
Three-dimensional topological insulators are characterized by insulating bulk state and metallic surface state involving Dirac fermions that behave as massless relativistic particles. These Dirac fermions are responsible for achieving a number of novel and exotic quantum phenomena in the topological insulators and for their potential applications in spintronics and quantum computations. It is thus essential to understand the electron dynamics of the Dirac fermions, i.e., how they interact with other electrons, phonons and disorders. Here we report super-high resolution angle-resolved photoemission studies on the Dirac fermion dynamics in the prototypical Bi2(Te,Se)3 topological insulators. We have directly revealed signatures of the electron-phonon coupling in these topological insulators and found that the electron-disorder interaction is the dominant factor in the scattering process. The Dirac fermion dynamics in Bi2(Te3-xSex) topological insulators can be tuned by varying the composition, x, or by controlling the charge carriers. Our findings provide crucial information in understanding the electron dynamics of the Dirac fermions in topological insulators and in engineering their surface state for fundamental studies and potential applications.
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