TY - JOUR
AU - Kölzer, Jonas
AU - Moors, Kristof
AU - Jalil, Abdur Rehman
AU - Zimmermann, Erik
AU - Rosenbach, Daniel
AU - Kibkalo, Lidia
AU - Schüffelgen, Peter
AU - Mussler, Gregor
AU - Grützmacher, Detlev
AU - Schmidt, Thomas L.
AU - Lüth, Hans
AU - Schäpers, Thomas
TI - In-plane magnetic field-driven symmetry breaking in topological insulator-based three-terminal junctions
JO - Communications materials
VL - 2
IS - 1
SN - 2662-4443
CY - London
PB - Springer Nature
M1 - FZJ-2021-04887
SP - 116
PY - 2021
AB - Topological surface states of three-dimensional topological insulator nanoribbons and their distinct magnetoconductance properties are promising for topoelectronic applications and topological quantum computation. A crucial building block for nanoribbon-based circuits are three-terminal junctions. While the transport of topological surface states on a planar boundary is not directly affected by an in-plane magnetic field, the orbital effect cannot be neglected when the surface states are confined to the boundary of a nanoribbon geometry.Here, we report on the magnetotransport properties of such three-terminal junctions. We observe a dependence of the current on the in-plane magnetic field, with a distinct steeringpattern of the surface state current towards a preferred output terminal for different magnetic field orientations. We demonstrate that this steering effect originates from the orbital effect, trapping the phase-coherent surface states in the different legs of the junction on opposite sides of the nanoribbon and breaking the left-right symmetry of the transmission across the junction. The reported magnetotransport properties demonstrate that an in-plane magnetic field is not only relevant but also very useful for the characterization and manipulation oftransport in three-dimensional topological insulator nanoribbon-based junctions and circuits, acting as a topoelectric current switch.
LB - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000724782200001
DO - DOI:10.1038/s43246-021-00213-3
UR - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/903167
ER -