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arXiv · 1603.00498

Transport of Dirac electrons in a random magnetic field in topological heterostructures

Hilary M. Hurst·Dmitry K. Efimkin·Victor Galitski
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Abstract

We consider the proximity effect between Dirac states at the surface of a topological insulator and a ferromagnet with easy plane anisotropy, which is described by the \emph{XY}-model and undergoes a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition. The surface states of the topological insulator interacting with classical magnetic fluctuations of the ferromagnet can be mapped onto the problem of Dirac fermions in a random magnetic field. However, this analogy is only partial in the presence of electron-hole asymmetry or warping of the Dirac dispersion, which results in screening of magnetic fluctuations. Scattering at magnetic fluctuations influences the behavior of the surface resistivity as a function of temperature. Near the BKT phase transition temperature we find that the resistivity of surface states scales linearly with temperature and has a clear maximum which becomes more pronounced as the Fermi energy decreases. Additionally at low temperatures we find linear resistivity, usually associated with non-Fermi liquid behavior, however here it appears entirely within the Fermi liquid picture.

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Hilary M. Hurst, Dmitry K. Efimkin, Victor Galitski. 2016-03-01. Transport of Dirac electrons in a random magnetic field in topological heterostructures. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.93.245111

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