Evidence for electron-electron interaction in topological insulator thin films

Abstract

We consider in our work single crystal thin films of Bi${}_{2}$Se${}_{3}$, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, both with and without Pb doping. Angle-resolved photoemission data demonstrate topological surface states with a Fermi level lying inside the bulk band gap in the Pb-doped films. Transport data show weak localization behavior, as expected for a thin film in the two-dimensional limit (when the thickness is smaller than the inelastic mean free path), but a detailed analysis within the standard theoretical framework of diffusive transport shows that the temperature and magnetic field dependences of resistance cannot be reconciled in a theory that neglects inter-electron interactions. We demonstrate that an excellent account of quantum corrections to conductivity is achieved when both disorder and interaction are taken into account. These results clearly demonstrate that it is crucial to include electron-electron interaction for a comprehensive understanding of diffusive transport in topological insulators. While both the ordinary bulk and the topological surface states presumably participate in transport, our analysis does not allow a clear separation of the two contributions.