The discovery of topological insulators as a new state of matter has generated immense interest in this new class of materials. Three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators are characterized by the presence of an odd number of families of Dirac fermions—ideally one- at each of their surfaces. Angle-resolved photoemission experiments have demonstrated the presence of the expected Dirac fermions, but it is clear that to explore the electronic properties of these systems, transport measurements in many different device geometries are called for, just as it has been the case for Dirac fermions in graphene. In this chapter we review the status of transport studies through 3D topological insulators as of early summer 2012, after that a first generation of experiments has been performed. The results provide many different indications of the presence of surface fermions, as well as evidence of their Dirac nature. However, no textbook “manifestation” of surface Dirac fermions has been reported so far in these materials. Indeed, experiments also show that investigations are severely hampered by the material quality in most cases, because of the effect of high conductivity in the bulk, of low carrier mobility, of technical difficulties hampering device fabrication, and other reasons. In this chapter, we attempt to give a balanced overview of the work done during this first period and of the results obtained, stressing the implications and the limits of many of the observations that have been reported in the literature.

The recently discovered time-reversal-invariant topological insulator (TI) has led to the flourishing of unique physics along with promises for innovative electronic and spintronic applications. However, the as-grown TI materials are not truly insulating but with a non-trivial bulk carrier density, which makes difficulties to the transport methods. In our work, we study the fundamental transport properties of TI and its heterostructure, in which various approaches are utilized to better reveal the surface state properties. In particular, in Chapter 2, in-situ Al surface passivation of Bi2Se3 inside MBE is investigated to inhibit the degradation process, reduce carrier density and reveal the pristine topological surface states. In contrast, we show the degradation of surface states for the unpassivated control samples, in which the 2D carrier density is increased by 39.2% due to ambient n-doping, the Shubnikov-de Hass oscillations are completely absent, and a deviation from WAL weak antilocalization is observed. In Chapter 3, through optimizing the material composition to achieve bulk insulating state, we present the ambipolar effect in 4-9 quintuple layers (Bi0.57Sb0.43)2Te3 thin films. We also demonstrate the evidence of a hybridized surface gap opening in (Bi0.57Sb0.43)2Te3 sample with thickness below six quintuple layers through transport and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. By effective tuning the Fermi level via gate-voltage control, we unveil a striking competition between weak antilocalization and weak localization at low magnetic fields in nonmagnetic ultrathin films. In Chapter 4, we study the magnetic properties of Bi2Se3 surface states in the proximity of a high Tc ferrimagnetic insulator YIG. Proximity-induced magnetoresistance loops are observed by transport measurements with out-of-plane and in-plane magnetic fields applied. More importantly, a magnetic signal from the Bi2Se3 up to 130 K is clearly observed by magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements. Our results demonstrate the proximity-induced TI magnetism at higher temperatures, which is an important step toward room-temperature application of TI-based spintronic devices. The engineering of a TI and FMI heterostructure will open up numerous opportunities to study high temperature TI-based spintronic devices, in which the TI is controlled by breaking the TRS using a FMI with perpendicular magnetization component. A YIG film with out-of-plane anisotropy at> 300 K could potentially manipulate the magnetic properties of a TI may even above room temperature.

The theory of the topological insulator phase that emerges via spin-orbit coupling in three-dimensional materials is introduced, stressing its relationship to earlier topological phases in two dimensions. An unusual surface state with an odd number of “Dirac points” appears as a consequence of bulk topological invariants of the band structure. A different theoretical approach is then presented, based on the Berry phase of Bloch electrons, in order to illustrate a deep connection to the orbital contribution to the magnetoelectric polarizability in all materials. The unique features of transport in the topological insulator surface state are reviewed with an emphasis on possible experiments. The final section discusses briefly connections to interacting phases including topological superconductors and some recent efforts to construct fractional topological insulators in three dimensions.

As one of the most promising candidates for the building block of the novel spintronic circuit, the topological insulator (TI) has attracted world-wide interest of study. Robust topological order protected by time-reversal symmetry (TRS) makes charge transport and spin generation in TIs significantly different from traditional three-dimensional (3D) or two-dimensional (2D) electronic systems. However, to date, charge transport and spin generation in 3D TIs are still primarily modeled as single-surface phenomena, happening independently on top and bottom surfaces. In this dissertation, I will demonstrate via both experimental findings and theoretical modeling that this "single surface'' theory neither correctly describes a realistic 3D TI-based device nor reveals the amazingly distinct physical picture of spin transport dynamics in 3D TIs. Instead, I present a new viewpoint of the spin transport dynamics where the role of the insulating yet topologically non-trivial bulk of a 3D TI becomes explicit. Within this new theory, many mysterious transport and magneto-transport anomalies can be naturally explained. The 3D TI system turns out to be more similar to its low dimensional sibling -- 2D TI rather than some other systems sharing the Dirac dispersion, such as graphene. This work not only provides valuable fundamental physical insights on charge-spin transport in 3D TIs, but also offers important guidance to the design of 3D TI-based spintronic devices.

This book presents experimental studies on emergent transport and magneto-optical properties in three-dimensional topological insulators with two-dimensional Dirac fermions on their surfaces. Designing magnetic heterostructures utilizing a cutting-edge growth technique (molecular beam epitaxy) stabilizes and manifests new quantization phenomena, as confirmed by low-temperature electrical transport and time-domain terahertz magneto-optical measurements. Starting with a review of the theoretical background and recent experimental advances in topological insulators in terms of a novel magneto-electric coupling, the author subsequently explores their magnetic quantum properties and reveals topological phase transitions between quantum anomalous Hall insulator and trivial insulator phases; a new topological phase (the axion insulator); and a half-integer quantum Hall state associated with the quantum parity anomaly. Furthermore, the author shows how these quantum phases can be significantly stabilized via magnetic modulation doping and proximity coupling with a normal ferromagnetic insulator. These findings provide a basis for future technologies such as ultra-low energy consumption electronic devices and fault-tolerant topological quantum computers.