Terahertz photoresistivity of a high-mobility 3D topological insulator based on a strained HgTe film

TL;DR

This study investigates the terahertz photoresistivity in strained HgTe 3D topological insulators across various Fermi levels, revealing cyclotron resonance, surface-bulk electron interactions, and high-quality surface states evidenced by magneto-oscillations.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental insights into THz photoresistivity and cyclotron resonance in strained HgTe topological insulators, highlighting the high quality of surface states and their interactions.

Findings

Detection of cyclotron resonance in surface Dirac fermions.

Observation of surface-bulk electron mixing effects.

Identification of microwave-like magneto-oscillations indicating high mobility surface states.

Abstract

We report on a detailed study of the terahertz (THz) photoresistivity in a strained HgTe three-dimensional topological insulator (3D TI) for all Fermi level positions: inside the conduction and valence bands, and in the bulk gap. In the presence of a magnetic field we detect a resonance corresponding to the cyclotron resonance (CR) in the top surface Dirac fermions (DF) and examine the nontrivial dependence of the surface state cyclotron mass on the Fermi level position. We also detect additional resonant features at moderate electron densities and demonstrate that they are caused by the mixing of surface DF and bulk electrons. At high electron densities, we observe THz radiation induced 1/B-periodic low-field magneto-oscillations coupled to harmonics of the CR and demonstrate that they have a common origin with microwave-induced resistance oscillations (MIRO) previously observed in high mobility GaAs-based heterostructures. This observation attests the superior quality of 2D electron system formed by helical surface states in strained HgTe films.