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Spintronics of Topological Insulators

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Handbook of Spintronics

Abstract

Topological insulators (TIs) are an emerging group of materials with new states of quantum matter. Owing to a nontrivial band topology and strong spin–orbit coupling, gapless Dirac surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry are formed, and surface conductions exhibit unusual spin-momentum locking features. As a result, TIs are regarded as one of the most intriguing 2D materials, which arises broad interest among condensed matter physics, material science, nanoelectronics, spintronics, and energy harvesting applications. In this chapter, several important concepts that preceded the discovery of TIs have been discussed, and the roadmap of the topological-bonded quantum Hall trio has been outlined. In addition, an overview has been provided on the progress with regard to the realization of the quantum spin Hall effect in 2D CdTe/HgTe quantum wells, the extension of TIs into the 3D regime, and the experimental approaches to manipulate the surface states via both the surface-sensitive spectroscopy and electrical detections.

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Abbreviations

ARPES:

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

DOS:

Density of states

FWHM:

Full width at half maximum

HLN:

Hikami–Larkin–Nagaoka

IQHE:

Integer quantum Hall effect

LL:

Landau level

MC:

Magnetoconductivity

QAHE:

Quantum anomalous Hall effect

QHE:

Quantum Hall effect

QLs:

Quintuple layers

QSH:

Quantum spin Hall

SdH:

Shubnikov–de Haas

SOC:

Spin–orbit coupling

SS:

Surface states

STM:

Scanning tunneling microscopy

STS:

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy

TI:

Topological insulator

TKNN:

Thouless, Kohmoto, Nightingale, and den Nijs

TRS:

Time-reversal symmetry

VLS:

Vapor–liquid–solid method

WAL:

Weak antilocalization

WL:

Weak localization

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Kang L. Wang

  2. Engineering Electrical Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Murong Lang & Xufeng Kou

Authors
  1. Kang L. Wang
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  2. Murong Lang
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  3. Xufeng Kou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kang L. Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. York-Nanjing International Center of Spintronics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Yongbing Xu

  2. Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    David D. Awschalom

  3. Department of Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Junsaku Nitta

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Wang, K.L., Lang, M., Kou, X. (2016). Spintronics of Topological Insulators. In: Xu, Y., Awschalom, D., Nitta, J. (eds) Handbook of Spintronics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6892-5_56

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