Ambipolar Surface State Thermoelectric Power of Topological Insulator Bi2Se3

We measure gate-tuned thermoelectric power of mechanically exfoliated Bi2Se3 thin films in the topological insulator regime. The sign of the thermoelectric power changes across the charge neutrality point as the majority carrier type switches from electron to hole, consistent with the ambipolar electric field effect observed in conductivity and Hall effect measurements. Near charge neutrality point and at low temperatures, the gate dependent thermoelectric power follows the semiclassical Mott relation using the expected surface state density of states, but is larger than expected at high electron doping, possibly reflecting a large density of states in the bulk gap. The thermoelectric power factor shows significant enhancement near the electron-hole puddle carrier density ~ 0.5 x 1012 cm-2 per surface at all temperatures. Together with the expected reduction of lattice thermal conductivity in low dimensional structures, the results demonstrate that nanostructuring and Fermi level tuning of three dimensional topological insulators can be promising routes to realize efficient thermoelectric devices.

Coherent Topological Transport on the Surface of Bi2Se3

The two-dimensional (2D) surface state of the three-dimensional strong topological insulator (STI) is fundamentally distinct from other 2D electron systems in that the Fermi arc encircles an odd number of Dirac points. The TI surface is in the symplectic universality class and uniquely among 2D systems remains metallic and cannot be localized by (time-reversal symmetric) disorder. However, in finite-size samples inter-surface coupling can destroy the topological protection. The question arises: At what size can a thin TI sample be treated as having decoupled topological surface states? We show that weak anti-localization(WAL) is extraordinarily sensitive to sub-meV coupling between top and bottom topological surfaces, and the surfaces of a TI film may be coherently coupled even for thicknesses as large as 12 nm. For thicker films we observe the signature of a true 2D topological metal: perfect weak anti-localization in quantitative agreement with two decoupled surfaces in the symplectic symmetry class.

Intrinsic Electron-Phonon Resistivity in Bi2Se3 in the Topological Regime

We measure the temperature-dependent carrier density and resistivity of the topological surface state of thin exfoliated Bi2Se3 in the absence of bulk conduction. When the gate-tuned chemical potential is near or below the Dirac point the carrier density is strongly temperature dependent reflecting thermal activation from the nearby bulk valence band, while above the Dirac point, unipolar n-type surface conduction is observed with negligible thermal activation of bulk carriers. In this regime linear resistivity vs. temperature reflects intrinsic electron-acoustic phonon scattering. Quantitative comparison with a theoretical transport calculation including both phonon and disorder effects gives the ratio of deformation potential to Fermi velocity D/hbarvF = 4.7 {AA}-1. This strong phonon scattering in the Bi2Se3 surface state gives intrinsic limits for the conductivity and charge carrier mobility at room temperature of ~550 {mu}S per surface and ~10,000 cm2/Vs.