Structural disorder driven Metal-Insulator transition in Bi_xTeI thin films

Strong disorder has a crucial effect on the electronic structure in quantum materials by increasing localization, interactions, and modifying the local environment as well as the density of states [1]. Understanding how structural disorder can be used to tune the electronic structure in quantum materials is of great importance for technological applications where disorder is likely present. In this work we grow Bi_xTeI thin films and measure their transport properties. The Bi_xTeI family of materials have interesting electronic properties such as Rashba splitting, topological states, and superconductivity [2]. We find by changing the growth temperature and Bismuth concentration there is increased disorder which leads to a metal-insulator transition. This is accompanied by linear magnetoresistance, weak-antilocalization, and evidence for electron-electron interactions. We provide a clear picture how the electronic properties change with disorder. By using disorder as a tuning parameter we open up a new materials space to search for interesting quantum materials.