Subcycle Observation of Lightwave-Driven Dirac Currents in a Topological Surface Band | Sciact - CRIS-system of Boreskov Institute of Catalysis

Subcycle Observation of Lightwave-Driven Dirac Currents in a Topological Surface Band Full article

Journal

Nature
ISSN: 0028-0836 , E-ISSN: 1476-4687

Output data

Year: 2018, Volume: 562, Pages: 396-400 Pages count : 5 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0544-x

Tags

Dirac Current; Topological Surface States; Angle-resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES); Bi2Te3; Three-dimensional Topological Insulator

Authors

Reimann J. ¹ , Schlauderer S. ² , Schmid C.P. ² , Langer F. ² , Baierl S. ² , Kokh K.A. ^3,4 , Tereshchenko O.E. ^4,5 , Kimura A. ⁶ , Lange C. ² , Güdde J. ¹ , Höfer U. ¹ , Huber R. ²

Affiliations

1	Department of Physics, Philipps-University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
2	Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
3	V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
4	Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
5	A.V. Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
6	Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

Harnessing the carrier wave of light as an alternating-current bias may enable electronics at optical clock rates (1). Lightwave-driven currents have been assumed to be essential for high-harmonic generation in solids (2–6), charge transport in nanostructures (7,8), attosecond-streaking experiments (9–16) and atomic-resolution ultrafast microscopy (17,18). However, in conventional semiconductors and dielectrics, the finite effective mass and ultrafast scattering of electrons limit their ballistic excursion and velocity. The Dirac-like, quasi-relativistic band structure of topological insulators (19–29) may allow these constraints to be lifted and may thus open a new era of lightwave electronics. To understand the associated, complex motion of electrons, comprehensive experimental access to carrier-wave-driven currents is crucial. Here we report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with subcycle time resolution that enables us to observe directly how the carrier wave of a terahertz light pulse accelerates Dirac fermions in the band structure of the topological surface state of Bi2Te3. While terahertz streaking of photoemitted electrons traces the electromagnetic field at the surface, the acceleration of Dirac states leads to a strong redistribution of electrons in momentum space. The inertia-free surface currents are protected by spin–momentum locking and reach peak densities as large as two amps per centimetre, with ballistic mean free paths of several hundreds of nanometres, opening up a realistic parameter space for all-coherent lightwave-driven electronic devices. Furthermore, our subcycle-resolution analysis of the band structure may greatly improve our understanding of electron dynamics and strong-field interaction in solids.

Reimann J. , Schlauderer S. , Schmid C.P. , Langer F. , Baierl S. , Kokh K.A. , Tereshchenko O.E. , Kimura A. , Lange C. , Güdde J. , Höfer U. , Huber R.
Subcycle Observation of Lightwave-Driven Dirac Currents in a Topological Surface Band
Nature. 2018. V.562. P.396-400. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0544-x WOS Scopus ANCAN PMID OpenAlex

Submitted:	Mar 20, 2018
Accepted:	Jul 26, 2018
Published online:	Sep 26, 2018
Published print:	Oct 18, 2018

Web of science:	WOS:000447807100055
Scopus:	2-s2.0-85055031281
Chemical Abstracts:	2018:1805295
Chemical Abstracts (print):	169:415278
PMID:	30258232
OpenAlex:	W2893581392

DB	Citing
Scopus	201
OpenAlex	203
Web of science	184