Singular robust room-temperature spin response from topological Dirac fermions

TL;DR

This study reveals a robust, temperature-stable paramagnetic spin response from the surface states of 3D topological insulators, observable up to room temperature, indicating potential for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates a universal, room-temperature paramagnetic singularity in the magnetic susceptibility of topological insulators, linked to surface Dirac fermions, independent of bulk properties.

Findings

Paramagnetic singularity persists up to room temperature.

Surface states dominate the low-field magnetic response.

Signal likely originates from an intrinsic surface cooling process.

Abstract

Topological insulators are a class of solids in which the nontrivial inverted bulk band structure gives rise to metallic surface states that are robust against impurity scattering. In three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators, however, the surface Dirac fermions intermix with the conducting bulk, thereby complicating access to the low energy (Dirac point) charge transport or magnetic response. Here we use differential magnetometry to probe spin rotation in the 3D topological material family (Bi$_2$Se$_3$, Bi$_2$Te$_3$, and Sb$_2$Te$_3$). We report a paramagnetic singularity in the magnetic susceptibility at low magnetic fields which persists up to room temperature, and which we demonstrate to arise from the surfaces of the samples. The singularity is universal to the entire family, largely independent of the bulk carrier density, and consistent with the existence of electronic states near the spin-degenerate Dirac point of the 2D helical metal. The exceptional thermal stability of the signal points to an intrinsic surface cooling process, likely of thermoelectric origin, and establishes a sustainable platform for the singular field-tunable Dirac spin response.