Year

2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

School of Physics; Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials

Abstract

The theoretical discovery and experimental realisation of topological insulators, a new state of matter, has brought enormous research interest in the field of condensed matter physics. The novel and fascinating phenomenon in topological insulators (TIs) is the existence of gapless surface states (or edge states) while the bulk interior has an energy gap. These states are intriguing because they enable the transport of charges with no backscattering, which means less heat generation than ordinary conductors. The unique transport in TIs arises because of the spin-momentum locking of the surface states. Thus, the promising properties of the TIs have the potential for applications in low-energy quantum electronics and spintronics.

The research is motivated by a recent series of theories discussing the existence of amorphous topological materials and exploring the practical applications of the TIs in the semiconductor industry. The current research has extensively studied the feasibility of ion-beam patterning of a 3D strong topological insulator Sb2Te3. Subsequently, both in experiment and theory, this thesis proposes a novel method of engineering topological surface and edge states based on controlling the topological phase transition of Sb2Te3 with a focused ion-beam.

FoR codes (2008)

0204 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, 0202 ATOMIC, MOLECULAR, NUCLEAR, PARTICLE AND PLASMA PHYSICS, 0206 QUANTUM PHYSICS, 0910 MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

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Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.