Three-dimensional topological insulator (3D TI) nanowires display various interesting magnetotransport properties that can be attributed to their spin-momentum-locked surface states such as quasiballistic transport and Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. Her
e, we focus on the transport properties of a 3D TI nanowire with a gated section that forms an electronic Fabry-Perot (FP) interferometer that can be tuned to act as a surface-state filter or energy barrier. By tuning the carrier density and length of the gated section of the wire, the interference pattern can be controlled and the nanowire can become fully transparent for certain topological surface-state input modes while completely filtering out others. We also consider the interplay of FP interference with an external magnetic field, with which Klein tunneling can be induced, and transverse asymmetry of the gated section, e.g., due to a top-gated structure, which displays an interesting analogy with Rashba nanowires. Due to its rich conductance phenomenology, we propose a 3D TI nanowire with gated section as an ideal setup for a detailed transport-based characterization of 3D TI nanowire surface states near the Dirac point, which could be useful towards realizing 3D TI nanowire-based topological superconductivity and Majorana bound states.
Three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) host helical Dirac surface states at the interface with a trivial insulator. In quasi-one-dimensional TI nanoribbon structures the wave function of surface charges extends phase-coherently along the peri
meter of the nanoribbon, resulting in a quantization of transverse surface modes. Furthermore, as the inherent spin-momentum locking results in a Berry phase offset of $pi$ of self-interfering charge carriers an energy gap within the surface state dispersion appears and all states become spin-degenerate. We investigate and compare the magnetic field dependent surface state dispersion in selectively deposited Bi$_2$Te$_3$ TI micro- and nanoribbon structures by analysing the gate voltage dependent magnetoconductance at cryogenic temperatures. Hall measurements on microribbon field effect devices show a high bulk charge carrier concentration and electrostatic simulations show an inhomogeneous gate potential profile on the perimeter of the TI ribbon. In nanoribbon devices we identify a magnetic field dependency of the surface state dispersion as it changes the occupation of transverse subbands close to the Fermi energy. We quantify the energetic spacing in between these subbands by measuring the conductance as a function of the applied gate potential and use an electrostatic model that treats the inhomogeneous gate profile and the initial charge carrier densities on the top and bottom surface. In the gate voltage dependent transconductance we find oscillations that change their relative phase by $pi$ at half-integer values of the magnetic flux quantum applied coaxial to the nanoribbon providing evidence for a magnetic flux dependent topological phase transition in narrow, selectively deposited TI nanoribbon devices.
The potential of a wide range of layered ternary carbide and nitride MAX phases as conductors in interconnect metal lines in advanced CMOS technology nodes has been evaluated using automated first principles simulations based on density functional th
eory. The resistivity scaling potential of these compounds, i.e. the sensitivity of their resistivity to reduced line dimensions, has been benchmarked against Cu and Ru by evaluating their transport properties within a semiclassical transport formalism. In addition, their cohesive energy has been assessed as a proxy for the resistance against electromigration and the need for diffusion barriers. The results indicate that numerous MAX phases show promise as conductors in interconnects of advanced CMOS technology nodes.
We investigate the hydrodynamic flow of strongly interacting Dirac electrons in a nozzle geometry, which can for instance be realized with graphene. We show that a nozzle can induce a transition from subsonic to supersonic flow. This transition cause
s a shock wave of the electrons downstream of the throat of the nozzle, which is a distinct signature of hydrodynamic transport. We demonstrate that this effect is visible in the voltage profile along the nozzle when applying a bias and thus represents a suitable experimental probe of the hydrodynamic regime. In particular, there is a section of the nozzle with pronounced negative local resistance and a discontinuity of the local voltage induced by the shock wave.
We consider the impact of disorder on the spectrum of three-dimensional nodal-line semimetals. We show that the combination of disorder and a tilted spectrum naturally leads to a non-Hermitian self-energy contribution that can split a nodal line into
a pair of exceptional lines. These exceptional lines form the boundary of an open and orientable bulk Fermi ribbon in reciprocal space on which the energy gap vanishes. We find that the orientation and shape of such a disorder-induced bulk Fermi ribbon is controlled by the tilt direction and the disorder properties, which can also be exploited to realize a twisted bulk Fermi ribbon with nontrivial winding number. Our results put forward a paradigm for the exploration of non-Hermitian topological phases of matter.
We investigate the diffusive electron-transport properties of charge-doped graphene ribbons and nanoribbons with imperfect edges. We consider different regimes of edge scattering, ranging from wide graphene ribbons with (partially) diffusive edge sca
ttering to ribbons with large width variations and nanoribbons with atomistic edge roughness. For the latter, we introduce an approach based on pseudopotentials, allowing for an atomistic treatment of the band structure and the scattering potential, on the self-consistent solution of the Boltzmann transport equation within the relaxation-time approximation and taking into account the edge-roughness properties and statistics. The resulting resistivity depends strongly on the ribbon orientation, with zigzag (armchair) ribbons showing the smallest (largest) resistivity and intermediate ribbon orientations exhibiting intermediate resistivity values. The results also show clear resistivity peaks, corresponding to peaks in the density of states due to the confinement-induced subband quantization, except for armchair-edge ribbons that show a very strong width dependence because of their claromatic behavior. Furthermore, we identify a strong interplay between the relative position of the two valleys of graphene along the transport direction, the correlation profile of the atomistic edge roughness, and the chiral valley modes, leading to a peculiar strongly suppressed resistivity regime, most pronounced for the zigzag orientation.
We study the magnetotransport properties of patterned 3D topological insulator nanostructures with several leads, such as kinks or Y-junctions, near the Dirac point with analytical as well as numerical techniques. The interplay of the nanostructure g
eometry, the external magnetic field and the spin-momentum locking of the topological surface states lead to a richer magnetoconductance phenomenology as compared to straight nanowires. Similar to straight wires, a quantized conductance with perfect transmission across the nanostructure can be realized across a kink when the input and output channels are pierced by a half-integer magnetic flux quantum. Unlike for straight wires, there is an additional requirement depending on the orientation of the external magnetic field. A right-angle kink shows a unique $pi$-periodic magnetoconductance signature as a function of the in-plane angle of the magnetic field. For a Y-junction, the transmission can be perfectly steered to either of the two possible output legs by a proper alignment of the external magnetic field. These magnetotransport signatures offer new ways to explore topological surface states and could be relevant for quantum transport experiments on nanostructures which can be realized with existing fabrication methods.
It is generally understood that the resistivity of metal thin films scales with film thickness mainly due to grain boundary and boundary surface scattering. Recently, several experiments and ab initio simulations have demonstrated the impact of cryst
al orientation on resistivity scaling. The crystal orientation cannot be captured by the commonly used resistivity scaling models and a qualitative understanding of its impact is currently lacking. In this work, we derive a resistivity scaling model that captures grain boundary and boundary surface scattering as well as the anisotropy of the band structure. The model is applied to Cu and Ru thin films, whose conduction bands are (quasi-)isotropic and anisotropic respectively. After calibrating the anisotropy with ab initio simulations, the resistivity scaling models are compared to experimental resistivity data and a renormalization of the fitted grain boundary reflection coefficient can be identified for textured Ru.
We report on the thin film resistivity of several platinum-group metals (Ru, Pd, Ir, Pt). Platinum-group thin films show comparable or lower resistivities than Cu for film thicknesses below about 5,nm due to a weaker thickness dependence of the resis
tivity. Based on experimentally determined mean linear distances between grain boundaries as well as ab initio calculations of the electron mean free path, the data for Ru, Ir, and Cu were modeled within the semiclassical Mayadas--Shatzkes model [Phys. Rev. B 1, 1382 (1970)] to assess the combined contributions of surface and grain boundary scattering to the resistivity. For Ru, the modeling results indicated that surface scattering was strongly dependent on the surrounding material with nearly specular scattering at interfaces with SiO2 or air but with diffuse scattering at interfaces with TaN. The dependence of the thin film resistivity on the mean free path is also discussed within the Mayadas--Shatzkes model in consideration of the experimental findings.
A modeling approach, based on an analytical solution of the semiclassical multi-subband Boltzmann transport equation, is presented to study resistivity scaling in metallic thin films and nanowires due to grain boundary and surface roughness scatterin
g. While taking into account the detailed statistical properties of grains, roughness and barrier material as well as the metallic band structure and quantum mechanical aspects of scattering and confinement, the model does not rely on phenomenological fitting parameters.
