The synthesis and tunable topological properties of Sm-doped (Bi, Sb)2Te2S crystal

Abstract

Topological insulators exhibit Dirac points in their topological surface states, but often such Dirac points are far from the Fermi level and sometimes even reside outside the bulk band gap. Here, we report the synthesis of a new topological insulator material Sm-doped (Bi, Sb)2Te2S, which has its surface tunable Dirac point exposed within the bulk gap and close to the Fermi level at a minimal distance of 73 meV with a large tunability of 157 meV, as evidenced by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The compensation doping by Sm creates a nearly insulating bulk and triggers an interesting phenomenon of all-configuration negative magnetoresistance. This signals a nearly compensated state where the bulk transport is mainly via percolation through charge puddles. Our work offers a new material platform suitable for regulating the position of surface Dirac points and exploring unique physical properties of topological insulators.