Abstract
Topological insulators (TIs) are materials having an energy band gap in the bulk and conducting helical electronic states on the surface. The helical states are protected by time-reversal symmetry and thus are expected to be robust against static disorder scattering. In this work we report an atomistic first principles analysis of disorder scattering in two-probe transport junctions made of three-dimensional TI material Bi${}_{2}$Se${}_{3}$. The robustness of the device against disorder scattering is determined quantitatively. Examining many different scattering configurations, a general trend emerges on how strong is the perturbing potential and how it is spatially distributed so that it can derail the helical states on the Bi${}_{2}$Se${}_{3}$ surfaces.
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