title: Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in disordered two-dimensional topological insulators.
abstract: The disorder-driven metal-insulator transition in the quantum spin Hall systems is studied by scaling analysis of the Thouless conductance g. Below a critical disorder strength, the conductance is independent of the sample size M, an indication of critically delocalized electron states. The calculated beta function β = d ln g/d ln M indicates that the metal-insulator transition is of Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) type, which is characterized by binding and unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs of the local currents. The KT-like metal-insulator transition is a basic characteristic of the quantum spin Hall state, being independent of the time-reversal symmetry.
authors: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People's Republic of China.
authors: Zhong
authors: Z
authors: Xu
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Sheng
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Shen
authors: Baigeng
authors: B
authors: Wang
authors: D Y
authors: DY
authors: Xing
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D044367:Phase Transition; D011789:Quantum Theory; D044366:Transition Temperature
chemical_list: D008670:Metals