V. Sacksteder IV | Searcharxiv

arXiv2013

Parallel field magnetoresistance in topological insulator thin films

We report that the finite thickness of three-dimensional topological insulator (TI) thin films produces an observable magnetoresistance (MR) in phase coherent transport in parallel magnetic fields. The MR data of Bi2Se3 and (Bi,Sb)2Te3 thin films are compared with existing theoretical models of parallel field magnetotransport. We conclude that the TI thin films bring parallel field transport into a unique regime in which the coupling of surface states to bulk and to opposite surfaces is indispensable for understanding the observed MR. The β parameter extracted from parallel field MR can in principle provide a figure of merit for searching TI compounds with more insulating bulk than existing materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Transition between localized and extended states in the hierarchical Anderson model

We present strong numerical evidence for the existence of a localization-delocalization transition in the eigenstates of the 1-D Anderson model with long-range hierarchical hopping. Hierarchical models are important because of the well-known mapping between their phases and those of models with short range hopping in higher dimensions, and also because the renormalization group can be applied exactly without the approximations that generally are required in other models. In the hierarchical Anderson model we find a finite critical disorder strength Wc where the average inverse participation ratio goes to zero; at small disorder W < Wc the model lies in a delocalized phase. This result is based on numerical calculation of the inverse participation ratio in the infinite volume limit using an exact renormalization group approach facilitated by the model's hierarchical structure. Our results are consistent with the presence of an Anderson transition in short-range models with D > 2 dimensions, which was predicted using renormalization group arguments. Our finding should stimulate interest in the hierarchical Anderson model as a simplified and tractable model of the Anderson localization transition which occurs in finite-dimensional systems with short-range hopping.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗