title: Engineering Dirac electrons emergent on the surface of a topological insulator.
abstract: The concept of the topological insulator (TI) has introduced a new point of view to condensed-matter physics, relatinga prioriunrelated subfields such as quantum (spin, anomalous) Hall effects, spin-orbit coupled materials, some classes of nodal superconductors, superfluid3He, etc. From a technological point of view, TIs are expected to serve as platforms for realizing dissipationless transport in a non-superconducting context. The TI exhibits a gapless surface state with a characteristic conic dispersion (a surface Dirac cone). Here, we review peculiar finite-size effects applicable to such surface states in TI nanostructures. We highlight the specific electronic properties of TI nanowires and nanoparticles, and in this context we contrast the cases of weak and strong TIs. We study the robustness of the surface and the bulk of TIs against disorder, addressing the physics of Dirac and Weyl semimetals as a new research perspective in the field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantum Matter, AdSM, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8530, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Sophia University, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8554, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Sophia University, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8554, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantum Matter, AdSM, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8530, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-Ichiro
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Imura
keywords: 71.23.-k; 71.55.Ak; Dirac monopole; intrinsic Aharonov–Bohm effect; perfectly conducting channel; topological insulator; weak topological insulator