Metalization of topological insulators

TL;DR

This paper develops a microscopic theory showing that quantum decoherence can induce finite longitudinal conductivity in topological insulators without Fermi surface carriers, revealing a new transport mechanism beyond the Drude model.

Contribution

It introduces a novel decoherence-driven transport mechanism in topological insulators, challenging traditional distinctions between metals and insulators.

Findings

Finite longitudinal conductivity arises without Fermi surface carriers.

Conductance scales linearly with impurity density in dilute limit.

Conductance is inversely proportional to temperature, similar to strange metals.

Abstract

In modern condensed matter theory, phases of electronic matter--such as metals and insulators-are fundamentally distinguished by the presence or absence of charge-carrying quasiparticles or excitations near the Fermi surface at low temperatures. Here, we show that this criterion breaks down in Berry-curvature-dominated systems, where transport is governed by interband coherence across the entire Fermi sea. We develop a microscopic theory of quantum transport in bulk topological insulators with a vanishing density of states at the Fermi energy, for which the conventional Drude contribution is absent. We demonstrate that impurity-scattering-induced coherence decay generates a distinct longitudinal transport channel even in the topologically trivial regime, with edge contributions rigorously excluded. This mechanism yields a finite longitudinal conductivity even in the absence of carriers at the Fermi level and exhibits an unconventional scaling linear in impurity density in the dilute limit, in stark contrast to Drude behaviour. Importantly, this decoherence-induced conductance is inversely proportional to temperature, reminiscent of strange-metal behaviour, most prominently observed in cuprate superconductors above their critical temperature. Our findings reveal quantum decoherence as a fundamental origin of longitudinal transport beyond the Drude paradigm, challenging the traditional distinction between metals and insulators.