Growth of Twin-Free and Low-Doped Topological Insulators on BaF2(111)

We demonstrate the growth of twin-free BiTe and SbTe topological insulators by molecular beam epitaxy and a sizable reduction of the twin density in BiSe on lattice-matched BaF(111) substrates. Using X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and atomic force microscopy, we systematically investigate t...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Bonell, Frédéric|||0000-0001-7296-0404, González Cuxart, Marc|||0000-0002-9085-1225, Song, Kenan, Robles, Roberto|||0000-0001-7808-0395, Ordejon, Pablo|||0000-0002-2353-2793, Roche, Stephan|||0000-0003-0323-4665, Mugarza, Aitor|||0000-0002-2698-885X, Valenzuela, Sergio O.|||0000-0002-4632-8891
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:195678
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/195678
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1021/acs.cgd.7b00525
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ab initio calculations
Angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy
Growth mechanisms
Growth parameters
Lattice-matched
Substrate layers
Substrate roughness
Topological insulators
Descripción
Sumario:We demonstrate the growth of twin-free BiTe and SbTe topological insulators by molecular beam epitaxy and a sizable reduction of the twin density in BiSe on lattice-matched BaF(111) substrates. Using X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and atomic force microscopy, we systematically investigate the parameters influencing the formation of twin domains and the morphology of the films, and show that Se- and Te-based alloys differ by their growth mechanism. Optimum growth parameters are shown to result in intrinsically low-doped films, as probed by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. In contrast to previous approaches in which twin-free BiSe films are achieved by increasing the substrate roughness, the quality of our BiTe is superior on the flattest BaF substrates. This finding indicates that, during nucleation, the films not only interact with the topmost atomic substrate layer but also with buried layers that provide the necessary stacking information to promote a single twin, an observation that is supported by ab initio calculations.