Abstract
Detecting the metallic Dirac electronic states on the surface of Topological Insulators (TIs) is critical for the study of important surface quantum properties (SQPs), such as Majorana zero modes, where simultaneous probing of the bulk and edge electron states is required. However, there is a particular shortage of experimental methods, showing at atomic resolution how Dirac electrons extend and interact with the bulk interior of nanoscaled TI systems. Herein, by applying advanced broadband solid-state 125Te nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods on Bi2Te3 nanoplatelets, we succeeded in uncovering the hitherto invisible NMR signals with magnetic shielding that is influenced by the Dirac electrons, and we subsequently showed how the Dirac electrons spread inside the nanoplatelets. In this way, the spin and orbital magnetic susceptibilities induced by the bulk and edge electron states were simultaneously measured at atomic scale resolution, providing a pertinent experimental approach in the study of SQPs.
Highlights
Detecting the metallic Dirac electronic states on the surface of Topological Insulators (TIs) is critical for the study of important surface quantum properties (SQPs), such as Majorana zero modes, where simultaneous probing of the bulk and edge electron states is required
Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments in combination with theoretical studies have shown that these systems acquire a single Dirac Cone and large band gap[6,7], providing an ideal platform for studying SQPs
Since many SQPs depend on the way that the spin of the Dirac electrons couples with their orbital motion and how this interaction propagates through the crystal, an experimental probe sensitive to both the spin and orbital motion of the Dirac electrons with atomic scale resolution is crucial in the efforts to further understand the physics of topological materials
Summary
Detecting the metallic Dirac electronic states on the surface of Topological Insulators (TIs) is critical for the study of important surface quantum properties (SQPs), such as Majorana zero modes, where simultaneous probing of the bulk and edge electron states is required. It is expected that the NMR signals from the surface of the nanoplatelets will be shifted with respect to the signals from the bulk (interior), because the Dirac electrons are predicted to induce large negative orbital Knight shifts[12].
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