Topological insulator systems with magnetism
Open Access
- Author:
- Lee, Joon Sue
- Graduate Program:
- Physics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- July 23, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Nitin Samarth, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Nitin Samarth, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Jainendra Jain, Committee Member
Jun Zhu, Committee Member
Suman Datta, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Topological insulator
surface state
magnetism
ferromagnetism
spintronics
molecular beam epitaxy - Abstract:
- This dissertation describes topological insulator systems hybridized with magnetism. The Dirac surface states induced by strong spin-orbit interaction can be modified by breaking time-reversal symmetry that protects the surface state. We study the modified surface states of topological insulators by introducing magnetism by doping magnetic atoms or interfacing a magnetic layer to the surface. Also, we explore potential spintronics applications of topological insulators by utilizing magnetic tunnel junctions to evidence the inherently spin-polarized texture of the topological insulator surface state. For this dissertation research, single crystalline topological insulator thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy have been employed. From the motivation of breaking time-reversal symmetry in the surface state, the first experiments study the structural, magnetic, and magneto-transport properties of a magnetically doped, three-dimensional topological insulator, bismuth telluride doped with Mn. We observed ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature up to 17 K in films with ~2-10% Mn concentrations. The observed ferromagnetism is independent of carrier density in the Mn-doped bismuth telluride films, suggesting that it is not mediated by charge carriers. The next topological insulator system with magnetism is a hybrid topological insulator/ferromagnet heterostructure as a new approach for topological insulator hybrid systems using a dilute magnetic semiconductor Ga1-xMnxAs. A highly resistive Ga1-xMnxAs with out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy is cleanly interfaced with a topological insulator Bi2-xSbxTe3-ySey by molecular beam epitaxy. Magneto-transport measurements on a top-gated heterostructure device show a crossover from positive magneto-conductance to negative magneto-conductance as well as a systematic emergence of an anomalous Hall effect as the temperature is lowered or as the chemical potential approaches the Dirac point. The results are possibly interpreted as the modification of the surface state at the interface by the adjacent, ferromagnetic Ga1-xMnxAs layer. The last topological insulator system with magnetism is a topological insulator channel with a magnetic tunnel junction on it. We seek a potential role of topological insulators in spintronics as generators of carrier spin polarization. Electrical detection of the inherent spin polarization of the topological insulator surface state was demonstrated using a permalloy/Al2O3 magnetic tunnel junction on a (Bi,Sb)2Te3 channel. The observed hysteretic spin signals occurring at the magnetic switching field of the ferromagnet permalloy layer can be interpreted as the projection of the current-induced spin polarization on a topological insulator surface onto the magnetization of the ferromagnet via tunneling.