Junction between surfaces of two topological insulators

Sen, Diptiman and Deb, Oindrila (2012) Junction between surfaces of two topological insulators. In: PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 85 (24).

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Abstract

We study the properties of a line junction which separates the surfaces of two three-dimensional topological insulators. The velocities of the Dirac electrons on the two surfaces may be unequal and may even have opposite signs. For a time-reversal invariant system, we show that the line junction is characterized by an arbitrary parameter alpha which determines the scattering from the junction. If the surface velocities have the same sign, we show that there can be edge states which propagate along the line junction with a velocity and spin orientation which depend on alpha and the ratio of the velocities. Next, we study what happens if the two surfaces are at an angle phi with respect to each other. We study the scattering and differential conductance through the line junction as functions of phi and alpha. We also find that there are edge states which propagate along the line junction with a velocity and spin orientation which depend on phi. Finally, if the surface velocities have opposite signs, we find that the electrons must transmit into the two-dimensional interface separating the two topological insulators.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	PHYSICAL REVIEW B
Publisher:	AMER PHYSICAL SOC
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to the American Physical Society
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Centre for High Energy Physics
Date Deposited:	06 Jul 2012 10:20
Last Modified:	06 Jul 2012 10:20
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/44768

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