Thickness-dependent conductance in Sb2SeTe2 topological insulator nanosheets

Abstract The conductivity increases as thickness decreases in a series of Sb2SeTe2 topological insulator nanosheets with thickness ranging from 80 to 200 nm, where the sheet conductance is proportional to the thickness. The corresponding sheet conductance of the surface state is 8.7 e2/h which is consistent with the values extracted from the temperature dependent Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations at high magnetic fields. The extracted Fermi momentum is the same as the results from the ARPES value, and the Berry phase is π. These support that the thickness dependent sheet conductance originates from the combination of the surface state and the bulk state.