Chemical Potential Fluctuations in Topological Insulator (Bi_{0.5}Sb_{0.5})₂Te₃ Films Visualized by Photocurrent Spectroscopy

Christoph Kastl (1 , 2) , Paul Seifert (1 , Xiaoyue He (3) , Kehui Wu (3) , Yongqing Li (3) , Alexander Holleitner (1 , 2) ((1) Walter Schottky Institut

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Physik-Department Technische Universit\"at M\"unchen (2) Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) (3) Institute of Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing)

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classification ❄️ cond-mat.mtrl-sci cond-mat.mes-hall

keywords potentialfluctuationsinsulatorphotocurrenttopologicalchemicalconstrictionsgenerated

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We investigate the photocurrent properties of the topological insulator (Bi$_{0.5}$Sb$_{0.5}$)$_2$Te$_3$ on SrTiO$_3$-substrates. We find reproducible, submicron photocurrent patterns generated by long-range chemical potential fluctuations, occurring predominantly at the topological insulator/substrate interface. We fabricate nano-plowed constrictions which comprise single potential fluctuations. Hereby, we can quantify the magnitude of the disorder potential to be in the meV range. The results further suggest a dominating photo-thermoelectric current generated in the surface states in such nanoscale constrictions.

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Chemical Potential Fluctuations in Topological Insulator (Bi_{0.5}Sb_{0.5})₂Te₃ Films Visualized by Photocurrent Spectroscopy

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