Contact Effects in thin 3D-Topological Insulators: How does the current flow?

The effect of different contact configurations (semi-infinite extended-channel, normal metal and ferromagnetic metal) on quantum transport through thin Bi2Se3 three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) slab (channel) has been investigated through Non-Equilibrium Green Function. The issue of contact dependent current flow and distribution across quintuple layers of 3D-TI has been addressed in this work and applied to expound the explanation for recent experimental work on electrical detection of spin-momentum locking on topological surface for long channel device. A theoretical model is propounded to develop a microscopic understanding of transport in 3D-TI in which contact type and magnetization concur with helical surface states of the TI channel to manifest seemingly counter-intuitive current distribution across layers. The quantum transport calculations for short channel devices with magnetic source and drain contacts postulate negative surface current for anti-phase magnetization whose axis is transverse to both current and quintuple layers. For in-phase magnetization at the two terminals, it is shown that observations can change fundamentally to result in anomalous current distribution. Such results are explained to stem from the confinement of 3D-TI between ferromagnetic contacts along the transport direction. A simple mechanism to validate topological insulators via quantum transport experiments has also been suggested.