Influence of an Anomalous Temperature Dependence of the Phase Coherence Length on the Conductivity of Magnetic Topological Insulators.

Magnetotransport constitutes a useful probe to understand the interplay between electronic band topology and magnetism in spintronic devices. A recent theory of Lu and Shen [Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 146601 (2014)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.112.146601] on magnetically doped topological insulators predicts that quantum corrections Δκ to the temperature dependence of conductivity can change sign across the Curie transition. This phenomenon has been attributed to a suppression of the Berry phase of the topological surface states at the Fermi level, caused by a magnetic energy gap. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that Δκ can reverse its sign even when the Berry phase at the Fermi level remains unchanged. The contradictory behavior to theory predictions is resolved by extending the model by Lu and Shen to a nonmonotonic temperature scaling of the inelastic scattering length showing a turning point at the Curie transition.

Growth of transition metals on cerium tungstate model catalyst layers.

Two model catalytic metal/oxide systems were investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. The mixed-oxide support was a cerium tungstate epitaxial thin layer grown in situ on the W(1 1 0) single crystal. Active particles consisted of palladium and platinum 3D islands deposited on the tungstate surface at 300 K. Both metals were found to interact weakly with the oxide support and the original chemical state of both support and metals was mostly preserved. Electronic and morphological changes are discussed during the metal growth and after post-annealing at temperatures up to 700 K. Partial transition-metal coalescence and self-cleaning from the CO and carbon impurities were observed.