Spin-charge separation of plasmonic excitations in thin topological insulators

We discuss plasmonic excitations in a thin slab of topological insulators. In the limit of no hybridization of the surface states and same electronic density of the two layers, the electrostatic coupling between the top and bottom layers leads to optical and acoustic plasmons which are purely charge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Condensed matter and materials physics, 2013-11, Vol.88 (20), Article 205427
Main Authors: Stauber, T., Gómez-Santos, G., Brey, L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Charge
Condensed matter
Density
Electronics
Excitation
Insulators
Plasmonics
Topology
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Summary:We discuss plasmonic excitations in a thin slab of topological insulators. In the limit of no hybridization of the surface states and same electronic density of the two layers, the electrostatic coupling between the top and bottom layers leads to optical and acoustic plasmons which are purely charge and spin collective oscillations. We then argue that a recent experiment on the plasmonic excitations of Bi sub(2) Se sub(3) [Di Pietro et al., Nat. Nanotechnol. 8. 556 (2013) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.134)] must be explained by including the charge response of the two-dimensional electron gas of the depletion layer underneath the two surfaces. We also present an analytic formula to fit their data.
ISSN:1098-0121
1550-235X
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.88.205427