Thin Films

Crystalline topological insulators have been on the forefront of condensed matter research for the past decade. However, disordered topological insulators have not been examined in much detail since current models of topological insulators rely heavily on the materials’ electronic band structure. Without the translational symmetries necessary to create a well-defined reciprocal space disordered materials have long been presumed to not exhibit topological properties. However, very recent theoretical models have predicted the existence of topologically protected states in disordered materials. This talk will discuss temperature dependent magnetoresistance, Hall effect, and temperature dependent resistivity measurements of polycrystalline and amorphous Bi₂Te₃ thin films.