Positron surface state as a spectroscopic probe for characterizing surfaces of topological insulator materials
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PhysRevB.94.115411.pdf
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Author(s) • • • • • • • • •
Callewaert, Vincent
Shastry, K.
Saniz, Rolando
Makkonen, Ilja
Barbiellini, Bernardo
Assaf, Badih A.
Partoens, Bart
Bansil, Arun
Weiss, A. H.
Heiman, Donald E.
Date Issued
September 2016
Journal
Physical Review B
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Callewaert, Vincent, K. Shastry, Rolando Saniz, Ilja Makkonen, Bernardo Barbiellini, Badih A. Assaf, Donald Heiman, et al. “Positron Surface State as a Spectroscopic Probe for Characterizing Surfaces of Topological Insulator Materials.” Physical Review B 94, no. 11 (September 6, 2016).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Topological insulators are attracting considerable interest due to their potential for technological applications and as platforms for exploring wide-ranging fundamental science questions. In order to exploit, fine-tune, control, and manipulate the topological surface states, spectroscopic tools which can effectively probe their properties are of key importance. Here, we demonstrate that positrons provide a sensitive probe for topological states and that the associated annihilation spectrum provides a technique for characterizing these states. Firm experimental evidence for the existence of a positron surface state near Bi2Te2Se with a binding energy of Eb=2.7±0.2eV is presented and is confirmed by first-principles calculations. Additionally, the simulations predict a significant signal originating from annihilation with the topological surface states and show the feasibility to detect their spin texture through the use of spin-polarized positron beams.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.115411