Transport in three-dimensional topological insulators: theory and experiment

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent theoretical and experimental advances in understanding surface state transport in three-dimensional topological insulators, highlighting phenomena like weak localization, Klein tunneling, and the challenges in experimental detection.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical models and experimental findings related to surface transport in 3D topological insulators, emphasizing new insights and ongoing challenges.

Findings

Surface states exhibit weak localization and quantum corrections.

Experimental identification of surface transport has improved over recent years.

Surface states show unique transport phenomena like Klein tunneling and half-quantized Hall response.

Abstract

This article reviews recent theoretical and experimental work on transport due to the surface states of three-dimensional topological insulators. The theoretical focus is on longitudinal transport in the presence of an electric field, including Boltzmann transport, quantum corrections and weak localization, as well as longitudinal and Hall transport in the presence of both electric and magnetic fields and/or magnetizations. Special attention is paid to transport at finite doping, to the $\pi$-Berry phase, which leads to the absence of backscattering, Klein tunneling and half-quantized Hall response. Signatures of surface states in ordinary transport and magnetotransport are clearly identified. The review also covers transport experiments of the past years, reviewing the initial obscuring of surface transport by bulk transport, and the way transport due to the surface states has increasingly been identified experimentally. Current and likely future experimental challenges are given prominence and the current status of the field is assessed.