Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations as a probe for topological insulators*

In this work we study the bulk Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations (SdH) of 2D topological insulators. Our approach uses the complete 4x4 BHZ model [1] and a phenomenological trace formula [2] for the density of states accounting for Landau-level quantization. Within the topological regime, our results show unusual beatings of the SdH oscillations for a wide range of parameters. These unusual beatings are related to the coexistence of both electron- and hole-like carriers, present in the “Mexican hat” regime. This suggests ordinary SdH oscillations as a probe for bulk 2D systems with non-trivial band topology.

[1] B. Andrei Bernevig, Taylor L. Hughes, Shou-Cheng Zhang, Science 314, 1757 (2006).
[2] Brack, M., and R. K. Bhaduri, 1997, Semiclassical Physics (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA)