Thickness-dependent transport channels in topological insulator Bi2 Se3 thin films grown by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

We study the low-temperature transport properties of Bi2 Se3 thin films grown by magnetron sputtering. A positive magnetoresistance resulting from the weak antilocalization (WAL) effect is observed at low temperatures. The observed WAL effect is two dimensional in nature. Applying the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka theory, we have obtained the dephasing length. It is found that the temperature dependence of the dephasing length cannot be described only by the Nyquist electron-electron dephasing, in conflict with prevailing experimental results. From the WAL effect, we extract the number of the transport channels, which is found to increase with increasing the thickness of the films, reflecting the thickness-dependent coupling between the top and bottom surface states in topological insulator. On the other hand, the electron-electron interaction (EEI) effect is observed in temperature-dependent conductivity. From the EEI effect, we also extract the number of the transport channel, which shows similar thickness dependence with that obtained from the analysis of the WAL effect. The EEI effect, therefore, can be used to analyze the coupling effect between the top and bottom surface states in topological insulator like the WAL effect.