Evidence of robust 2D transport and Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping in disordered topological insulator (Bi2Se3) nanowires

We report the experimental observation of variable range hopping conduction in focused-ion-beam (FIB) fabricated ultra-narrow nanowires of topological insulator (Bi2Se3). The value of the exponent (d + 1)−1 in the hopping equation was extracted as ~ 1/2\,\, ~ 1 2 for different widths of nanowires, which is the proof of the presence of Efros-Shklovskii hopping transport mechanism in a strongly disordered system. High localization lengths (0.5 nm, 20 nm) were calculated for the devices. A careful analysis of the temperature dependent fluctuations present in the magnetoresistance curves, using the standard Universal Conductance Fluctuation theory, indicates the presence of 2D topological surface states. Also, the surface state contribution to the conductance was found very close to one conductance quantum. We believe that our experimental findings shed light on the understanding of quantum transport in disordered topological insulator based nanostructures.