Molecular Physics seminar

Studying topological materials using Terahertz radiation

by Matthias Hudl (Molecuar Physics Division)

Europe/Stockholm
FE21

FE21

Description
Topological insulators are an emerging class of quantum materials. These materials show experimental properties similar to graphene, e.g. a low-energy electronic structure with Dirac fermion excitations, but in contrast to graphene with strong spin-orbit coupling. As a consequence topological (crystalline) insulators exhibit an inverted insulating bulk band structure and conducting (gapless), symmetry-protected surface states with helical spin texture. The subject matter of this talk is how Terahertz radiation can be used to study topological materials, such as e.g. topological (crystalline) insulators. In this context Terahertz radiation can be an interesting probe because characteristic energies of many elementary solid-state excitations are located in the Terahertz region (0.24-24 THz, 1-100 meV) of the electromagnetic spectrum.