Fragility of surface states and robustness of topological order in Bi ₂Se ₃ against oxidation

Topological surface states are protected against local perturbations, but this protection does not extend to chemical reaction over the whole surface, as demonstrated by theoretical studies of the oxidation of Bi ₂Se ₃ and its effects on the surface spin polarization and current. While chemisorption of O ₂ largely preserves the topological surface states, reaction with atomic O removes the original surface states and yields two new sets of surface states. One set forms a regular Dirac cone but is topologically trivial. The other set, while topologically relevant, forms an unusual rounded Dirac cone. The details are governed by the hybridization interaction at the interface.