Anisotropic effect of warping on the lifetime broadening of topological surface states in angle-resolved photoemission from Bi₂Te₃

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We analyze the strong hexagonal warping of the Dirac cone of Bi₂Te₃ by angle-resolved photoemission. Along Γ M, the dispersion deviates from a linear behavior meaning that the Dirac cone is warped outwards and not inwards. We show that this introduces an anisotropy in the lifetime broadening of the topological surface state which is larger along Γ K. The result is not consistent with nesting. Based on the theoretically predicted behavior of the ground-state spin texture of a strongly warped Dirac cone, we propose spin-dependent scattering processes as explanation for the anisotropic scattering rates. These results could help paving the way for optimizing future spintronic devices using topological insulators and controlling surface-scattering processes via external gate voltages.