Unraveling the Dirac fermion dynamics of the bulk-insulating topological system Bi2Te2Se

Using femtosecond time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we explore the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of surface fermions in the topological system Bi2Te2Se. We show that the presence of localized states from defects at the surface is one of the key material parameters undergirding the long relaxation time of photoexcited Dirac electrons lying in the projected band gap of the bulk-insulating pristine compound. Doping this ternary compound with Sn substituting on Bi sites, while desirably increasing the resistivity at low temperatures decreases decay times of the excited homologous Dirac electrons. On the basis of these observations, we argue that long relaxation times can be ultimately controlled by a charge transfer to the surface.