Angular-dependent oscillations of the magnetoresistance in Bi_2Se_3 due to the three-dimensional bulk Fermi surface

TL;DR

This study investigates angular-dependent magnetoresistance oscillations in Bi2Se3, attributing them to the bulk Fermi surface and demonstrating how Landau quantization causes these oscillations, aiding surface state detection.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis linking bulk Fermi surface properties to angular MR oscillations, clarifying their origin in topological insulators.

Findings

Oscillations are due to the bulk Fermi surface.

Simulations match experimental data using Shubnikov-de Haas parameters.

Results help distinguish surface states in low-carrier Bi2Se3.

Abstract

We observed pronounced angular-dependent magnetoresistance (MR) oscillations in a high-quality Bi2Se3 single crystal with the carrier density of 5x10^18 cm^-3, which is a topological insulator with residual bulk carriers. We show that the observed angular-dependent oscillations can be well simulated by using the parameters obtained from the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, which clarifies that the oscillations are solely due to the bulk Fermi surface. By completely elucidating the bulk oscillations, this result paves the way for distinguishing the two-dimensional surface state in angular-dependent MR studies in Bi2Se3 with much lower carrier density. Besides, the present result provides a compelling demonstration of how the Landau quantization of an anisotropic three-dimensional Fermi surface can give rise to pronounced angular-dependent MR oscillations.