Magnetoconductance, quantum Hall effect, and Coulomb blockade in topological insulator nanocones

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R. Kozlovsky, A. Graf, D. Kochan, K. Richter, C. Gorini,

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Physical Review Letters

Magnetotransport through cylindrical topological insulator (TI) nanowires is governed by the interplay between quantum confinement and geometric (Aharonov-Bohm and Berry) phases. Here, we argue that the much broader class of TI nanowires with varying radius—for which a homogeneous coaxial magnetic field induces a varying Aharonov-Bohm flux that gives rise to a nontrivial masslike potential along the wire is accessible by studying its simplest member, a TI nanocone. Such nanocones allow us to observe intriguing mesoscopic transport phenomena: While the conductance in a perpendicular magnetic field is quantized due to higher-order topological hinge states, it shows resonant transmission through Dirac Landau levels in a coaxial magnetic field. Furthermore, it may act as a quantum magnetic bottle, confining surface Dirac electrons and leading to a largely interaction-dominated regime of Coulomb blockade type. We show numerically that the above-mentioned effects occur for experimentally accessible values of system size and magnetic field, suggesting that TI nanocone junctions may serve as building blocks for Dirac electron optics setups.

 

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.126804
https://epub.uni-regensburg.de/41121/