Researchers at the University of Maryland and NIST have demonstrated surface-only charge conduction in a topological insulator, a material that conducts electricity only on its surface. The team used techniques previously applied to graphene to explain the conduction, revealing that the material’s surface has a unique Dirac-type electronic band structure. This structure implies that the conducting electrons have a special coupling between their spins and charges, potentially enabling new types of solid state devices, such as smaller magnetic components that can be switched using nanoscale spin currents.
Keywords: Topological, Insulators, Charge, Transport, Devices
