Enhanced Mobility of Spin-Helical Dirac Fermions in Disordered 3D Topological Insulators

The transport length l_tr and the mean free path l_e are determined for bulk and surface states in a Bi₂Se₃ nanoribbon by quantum transport and transconductance measurements. We show that the anisotropic scattering of spin-helical Dirac fermions results in a strong enhancement of l_tr (≈ 200 nm) and of the related mobility μ_tr (≈ 4000 cm² V^-1 s^-1), which confirms theoretical predictions.1 Despite strong disorder, the long-range nature of the scattering potential gives a large ratio l_tr/l_e ≈ 8, likely limited by bulk/surface coupling. This suggests that the spin-flip length l_sf ≈ l_tr could reach the micron size in materials with a reduced bulk doping and paves the way for building functionalized spintronic and ballistic electronic devices out of disordered 3D topological insulators.