Issue 44, 2020

Experimental signature of a topological quantum dot

Abstract

Topological insulator nanoparticles (TINPs) host topologically protected Dirac surface states, just like their bulk counterparts. For TINPs of radius <100 nm, quantum confinement on the surface results in the discretization of the Dirac cone. This system of discrete energy levels is referred to as a topological quantum dot (TQD) with energy level spacing on the order of Terahertz (THz), which is tunable with material-type and particle size. The presence of these discretized energy levels in turn leads to a new electron-mediated phonon-light coupling in the THz range, and the resulting mode can be observed in the absorption cross-section of the TINPs. We present the first experimental evidence of this new quantum phenomenon in Bi2Te3 topological quantum dots, remarkably observed at room temperature.

Graphical abstract: Experimental signature of a topological quantum dot

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Sep 2020
Accepted
01 Nov 2020
First published
04 Nov 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 22817-22825

Experimental signature of a topological quantum dot

M. S. Rider, M. Sokolikova, S. M. Hanham, M. Navarro-Cía, P. D. Haynes, D. K. K. Lee, M. Daniele, M. Cestelli Guidi, C. Mattevi, S. Lupi and V. Giannini, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 22817 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR06523D

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