The universal conductance fluctuations (UCFs), one of the most important manifestations of mesoscopic electronic interference, have not yet been demonstrated for the two-dimensional surface state of topological insulators (TIs). Even if one delicately suppresses the bulk conductance by improving the quality of TI crystals, the fluctuation of the bulk conductance still keeps competitive and difficult to be separated from the desired UCFs of surface carriers. Here we report on the experimental evidence of the UCFs of the two-dimensional surface state in the bulk insulating Bi2Te2Se microflakes. The solely-B⊥-dependent UCF is achieved and its temperature dependence is investigated. The surface transport is further revealed by weak antilocalizations. Such survived UCFs of the surface states result from the limited dephasing length of the bulk carriers in ternary crystals. The electron-phonon interaction is addressed as a secondary source of the surface state dephasing based on the temperature-dependent scaling behavior.
Enhancing the transport contribution of surface states in topological insulators is vital if they are to be incorporated into practical devices. Such efforts have been limited by the defect behaviour of Bi2Te3 (Se3) topological materials, where the subtle bulk carrier from intrinsic defects is dominant over the surface electrons. Compensating such defect carriers is unexpectedly achieved in (Cu0.1Bi0.9)2Te3.06 crystals. Here we report the suppression of the bulk conductance of the material by four orders of magnitude by intense ageing. The weak antilocalization analysis, Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations and scanning tunnelling spectroscopy corroborate the transport of the topological surface states. Scanning tunnelling microscopy reveals that Cu atoms are initially inside the quintuple layers and migrate to the layer gaps to form Cu clusters during the ageing. In combination with first-principles calculations, an atomic tunnelling–clustering picture across a diffusion barrier of 0.57 eV is proposed.
Palladium nanoparticle film-based strain sensor was fabricated by controllable deposition of nanoclusters onto flexible polymeric sheet in gas phase. Mott variable-range hopping (VRH) transport was found to be dominant in our devices. The gauge factor (sensitivity), which may be up to one order of magnitude greater than traditional semiconductor gauges, can be tuned by adjusting the inter-particle distance in metal nanoparticle films. The sensor exhibits good repeatability and reliability of their electrical responses to strains.
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