Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator

Abstract We theoretically address the impact of a random distribution of non-magnetic impurities on the electron states formed at the surface of a topological insulator. The interaction of electrons with the impurities is accounted for by a separable pseudo-potential method that allows us to obtain...

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Autores principales:	José Luis Hernando, Yuriko Baba, Elena Díaz, Francisco Domínguez-Adame
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/74aa9c8e88b3494cb6fa886891a9feb8
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:74aa9c8e88b3494cb6fa886891a9feb8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:74aa9c8e88b3494cb6fa886891a9feb82021-12-02T13:20:12ZMany-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator10.1038/s41598-021-84801-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/74aa9c8e88b3494cb6fa886891a9feb82021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84801-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract We theoretically address the impact of a random distribution of non-magnetic impurities on the electron states formed at the surface of a topological insulator. The interaction of electrons with the impurities is accounted for by a separable pseudo-potential method that allows us to obtain closed expressions for the density of states. Spectral properties of surface states are assessed by means of the Green’s function averaged over disorder realisations. For comparison purposes, the configurationally averaged Green’s function is calculated by means of two different self-consistent methods, namely the self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA) and the coherent potential approximation (CPA). The latter is often regarded as the best single-site theory for the study of the spectral properties of disordered systems. However, although a large number of works employ the SCBA for the analysis of many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator, CPA studies of the same problem are scarce in the literature. In this work, we find that the SCBA overestimates the impact of the random distribution of impurities on the spectral properties of surface states compared to the CPA predictions. The difference is more pronounced when increasing the magnitude of the disorder.José Luis HernandoYuriko BabaElena DíazFrancisco Domínguez-AdameNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q José Luis Hernando Yuriko Baba Elena Díaz Francisco Domínguez-Adame Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator
description	Abstract We theoretically address the impact of a random distribution of non-magnetic impurities on the electron states formed at the surface of a topological insulator. The interaction of electrons with the impurities is accounted for by a separable pseudo-potential method that allows us to obtain closed expressions for the density of states. Spectral properties of surface states are assessed by means of the Green’s function averaged over disorder realisations. For comparison purposes, the configurationally averaged Green’s function is calculated by means of two different self-consistent methods, namely the self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA) and the coherent potential approximation (CPA). The latter is often regarded as the best single-site theory for the study of the spectral properties of disordered systems. However, although a large number of works employ the SCBA for the analysis of many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator, CPA studies of the same problem are scarce in the literature. In this work, we find that the SCBA overestimates the impact of the random distribution of impurities on the spectral properties of surface states compared to the CPA predictions. The difference is more pronounced when increasing the magnitude of the disorder.
format	article
author	José Luis Hernando Yuriko Baba Elena Díaz Francisco Domínguez-Adame
author_facet	José Luis Hernando Yuriko Baba Elena Díaz Francisco Domínguez-Adame
author_sort	José Luis Hernando
title	Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator
title_short	Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator
title_full	Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator
title_fullStr	Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator
title_full_unstemmed	Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator
title_sort	many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/74aa9c8e88b3494cb6fa886891a9feb8
work_keys_str_mv	AT joseluishernando manyimpurityscatteringonthesurfaceofatopologicalinsulator AT yurikobaba manyimpurityscatteringonthesurfaceofatopologicalinsulator AT elenadiaz manyimpurityscatteringonthesurfaceofatopologicalinsulator AT franciscodominguezadame manyimpurityscatteringonthesurfaceofatopologicalinsulator
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Many-impurity scattering on the surface of a topological insulator

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