Multiple scattering theory of quasiparticles on a topological insulator surface

Zhen-Guo Fu, Ping Zhang, Zhigang Wang, Shu-Shen Li

Published 2011-08-02, updated 2011-12-08Version 3

A general partial-wave multiple scattering theory for scattering from cylindrically symmetric potentials on a topological insulator (TI) surface is developed. As an application, the cross sections for a single scatterer and two scatterers are discussed. We find that the symmetry of differential cross section is reduced and the backscattering is allowed for massive Dirac fermions on gapped TI surface. Remarkably, a sharp resonance peak at the band edge of the gapped TI is found in the total cross section $\Lambda_{tot}$, which may offer a useful way to determine the gap (as well as the effective mass of quasiparticles) on TI surface. We show that the interference effect is obvious in cross sections during the quasiparticle scattering between the scatterer pair, and additional resonance peaks are introduced in $\Lambda_{tot}$ when the higher partial waves are taken into account.