Strong spin-dephasing in a topological insulator-paramagnet heterostructure

Jason Lapano; Alessandro R. Mazza; Haoxiang Li; Debangshu Mukherjee; Elizabeth M. Skoropata; Jong Mok Ok; Hu Miao; Robert G. Moore; Thomas Z. Ward; Gyula Eres; Ho Nyung Lee; Matthew Brahlek

doi:10.1063/5.0011134

Strong spin-dephasing in a topological insulator-paramagnet heterostructure

Jason Lapano, Alessandro R. Mazza, Haoxiang Li, Debangshu Mukherjee, Elizabeth M. Skoropata, Jong Mok Ok, Hu Miao, Robert G. Moore, Thomas Z. Ward, Gyula Eres, Ho Nyung Lee, Matthew Brahlek

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The interface between magnetic materials and topological insulators can drive the formation of exotic phases of matter and enable functionality through the manipulation of the strong spin polarized transport. Here, we report that the transport processes that rely on strong spin-momentum locking in the topological insulator Bi2Se3 are completely suppressed by scattering at a heterointerface with the kagome-lattice paramagnet, Co7Se8. Bi2Se3-Co7Se8-Bi2Se3 trilayer heterostructures were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, where magnetotransport measurements revealed a substantial suppression of the weak antilocalization effect for Co7Se8 at thicknesses as thin as a monolayer, indicating a strong dephasing mechanism. Bi2-xCoxSe3 films, in which Co is in a non-magnetic 3+ state, show weak antilocalization that survives to higher than x = 0.4, which, in comparison with the heterostructures, suggests that the unordered moments of Co2+ act as a far stronger dephasing element. This work highlights several important points regarding coherent transport processes involving spin-momentum locking in topological insulator interfaces and how magnetic materials can be integrated with topological materials to realize both exotic phases and novel device functionality.

Original language	English
Article number	091113
Journal	APL Materials
Volume	8
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0011134
State	Published - Sep 1 2020

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (transport, structural characterization, and MBE growth), as part of the Computational Materials Science Program (part of transport), and by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy (ARPES measurements). The electron microscopy work was conducted as a user project at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facility.

Funders	Funder number
U. S. Department of Energy
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science
Basic Energy Sciences
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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10.1063/5.0011134

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title = "Strong spin-dephasing in a topological insulator-paramagnet heterostructure",

abstract = "The interface between magnetic materials and topological insulators can drive the formation of exotic phases of matter and enable functionality through the manipulation of the strong spin polarized transport. Here, we report that the transport processes that rely on strong spin-momentum locking in the topological insulator Bi2Se3 are completely suppressed by scattering at a heterointerface with the kagome-lattice paramagnet, Co7Se8. Bi2Se3-Co7Se8-Bi2Se3 trilayer heterostructures were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, where magnetotransport measurements revealed a substantial suppression of the weak antilocalization effect for Co7Se8 at thicknesses as thin as a monolayer, indicating a strong dephasing mechanism. Bi2-xCoxSe3 films, in which Co is in a non-magnetic 3+ state, show weak antilocalization that survives to higher than x = 0.4, which, in comparison with the heterostructures, suggests that the unordered moments of Co2+ act as a far stronger dephasing element. This work highlights several important points regarding coherent transport processes involving spin-momentum locking in topological insulator interfaces and how magnetic materials can be integrated with topological materials to realize both exotic phases and novel device functionality.",

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AU - Ok, Jong Mok

AU - Miao, Hu

AU - Moore, Robert G.

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AU - Lee, Ho Nyung

AU - Brahlek, Matthew

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N2 - The interface between magnetic materials and topological insulators can drive the formation of exotic phases of matter and enable functionality through the manipulation of the strong spin polarized transport. Here, we report that the transport processes that rely on strong spin-momentum locking in the topological insulator Bi2Se3 are completely suppressed by scattering at a heterointerface with the kagome-lattice paramagnet, Co7Se8. Bi2Se3-Co7Se8-Bi2Se3 trilayer heterostructures were grown using molecular beam epitaxy, where magnetotransport measurements revealed a substantial suppression of the weak antilocalization effect for Co7Se8 at thicknesses as thin as a monolayer, indicating a strong dephasing mechanism. Bi2-xCoxSe3 films, in which Co is in a non-magnetic 3+ state, show weak antilocalization that survives to higher than x = 0.4, which, in comparison with the heterostructures, suggests that the unordered moments of Co2+ act as a far stronger dephasing element. This work highlights several important points regarding coherent transport processes involving spin-momentum locking in topological insulator interfaces and how magnetic materials can be integrated with topological materials to realize both exotic phases and novel device functionality.

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Strong spin-dephasing in a topological insulator-paramagnet heterostructure

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