We report that Bi₂Se₃ thin films can be epitaxially grown on SrTiO₃ substrates, which allow for very large tunablity in carrier density with a back gate. The observed low field magnetoconductivity due to weak antilocalization (WAL) has a very weak gate-voltage dependence unless the electron density is reduced to very low values. Such a transition in WAL is correlated with unusual changes in longitudinal and Hall resistivities. Our results suggest a much suppressed bulk conductivity at large negative gate voltages and a possible role of surface states in the WAL phenomena.
To study the interface between a conventional superconductor and a topological insulator, we fabricated Pb-Bi2Te3-Pb lateral and sandwiched junctions, and performed electron transport measurements down to low temperatures. The results show that there is a strong superconducting proximity effect between Bi2Te3 and Pb, as that a supercurrent can be established along the thickness direction of the Bi2Te3 flakes (100~300 nm thick) at a temperature very close to the superconducting Tc of Pb. Moreover, a Josephson current can be established over several microns in the lateral direction between two Pb electrodes on the Bi2Te3 surface. We have further demonstrated that superconducting quantum interference devices can be constructed based on the proximity-effect-induced superconductivity. The critical current of the devices exhibits s-wave-like interference and Fraunhofer diffraction patterns. With improved designs, Josephson devices of this type would provide a test-bed for exploring novel phenomena such as Majorana fermions in the future.
We detected the spin polarization due to charge flow in the spin nondegenerate surface state of a three-dimensional topological insulator by means of an all-electrical method. The charge current in the bulk-insulating topological insulator Bi1.5Sb0.5Te1.7Se1.3 (BSTS) was injected/extracted through a ferromagnetic electrode made of Ni80Fe20, and an unusual current-direction-dependent magnetoresistance gave evidence for the appearance of spin polarization, which leads to a spin-dependent resistance at the BSTS/Ni80Fe20 interface. In contrast, our control experiment on Bi2Se3 gave null result. These observations demonstrate the importance of the Fermi-level control for the electrical detection of the spin polarization in topological insulators.
A prominent feature of topological insulators (TIs) is the surface states comprising of spin-nondegenerate massless Dirac fermions. Recent technical advances have made it possible to address the surface transport properties of TI thin films by tuning the Fermi levels of both top and bottom surfaces. Here we report our discovery of a novel planar Hall effect (PHE) from the TI surface, which results from a hitherto-unknown resistivity anisotropy induced by an in-plane magnetic field. This effect is observed in dual-gated devices of bulk-insulating Bi2−xSbxTe3 thin films, where the field-induced anisotropy presents a strong dependence on the gate voltage with a characteristic two-peak structure near the Dirac point. The origin of PHE is the peculiar time-reversal-breaking effect of an in-plane magnetic field, which anisotropically lifts the protection of surface Dirac fermions from backscattering. The observed PHE provides a useful tool to analyze and manipulate the topological protection of the TI surface.
The topological crystalline insulator SnTe has been grown epitaxially on a Bi 2 Te 3 buffer layer by molecular beam epitaxy. In a 30-nm-thick SnTe film, p-a n dn-type carriers are found to coexist, and Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation data suggest that the n-type carriers are Dirac fermions residing on the SnTe (111) surface. This transport observation of the topological surface state in a p-type topological crystalline insulator became possible due to a downward band bending on the free SnTe surface, which appears to be of intrinsic origin.
We have investigated the conductance spectra of Sn-Bi2Se3 interface junctions down to 250 mK and in different magnetic fields. A number of conductance anomalies were observed below the superconducting transition temperature of Sn, including a small gap different from that of Sn, and a zero-bias conductance peak growing up at lower temperatures. We discussed the possible origins of the smaller gap and the zero-bias conductance peak. These phenomena support that a proximityeffect-induced chiral superconducting phase is formed at the interface between the superconducting Sn and the strong spin-orbit coupling material Bi2Se3.
Manufactured fullerene nanoparticles easily enter into cells and hence have been rapidly developed for biomedical uses. However, it is generally unknown which route the nanoparticles undergo when crossing cell membranes and where they localize to the intracellular compartments. Herein we have used both microscopic imaging and biological techniques to explore the processes of [C(60)(C(COOH)(2))(2)](n) nanoparticles across cellular membranes and their intracellular translocation in 3T3 L1 and RH-35 living cells. The fullerene nanoparticles are quickly internalized by the cells and then routed to the cytoplasm with punctate localization. Upon entering the cell, they are synchronized to lysosome-like vesicles. The [C(60)(C(COOH)(2))(2)](n) nanoparticles entering cells are mainly via endocytosis with time-, temperature- and energy-dependent manners. The cellular uptake of [C(60)(C(COOH)(2))(2)](n) nanoparticles was found to be clathrin-mediated but not caveolae-mediated endocytosis. The endocytosis mechanism and the subcellular target location provide key information for the better understanding and predicting of the biomedical function of fullerene nanoparticles inside cells.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.