Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations
Topological insulators (TIs) are theoretically believed to possess robust surface states (SSs) for any surface terminations. In reality, for TIs with non-conventional terminations, the directly experimental demonstration of this argument is somehow hindered, due to the difficulties in sample prepara...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2016-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/9/093015 |
| _version_ | 1797751041900412928 |
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| author | Xie-Gang Zhu Yun Zhang Wei Feng Bing-Kai Yuan Qin Liu Rui-Zhi Qiu Dong-Hua Xie Shi-Yong Tan Yu Duan Yun Fang Wen Zhang Xin-Chun Lai |
| author_facet | Xie-Gang Zhu Yun Zhang Wei Feng Bing-Kai Yuan Qin Liu Rui-Zhi Qiu Dong-Hua Xie Shi-Yong Tan Yu Duan Yun Fang Wen Zhang Xin-Chun Lai |
| author_sort | Xie-Gang Zhu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Topological insulators (TIs) are theoretically believed to possess robust surface states (SSs) for any surface terminations. In reality, for TIs with non-conventional terminations, the directly experimental demonstration of this argument is somehow hindered, due to the difficulties in sample preparation and lack of efficient electronic structure characterization method. Here, by using the state-of-the-art molecular beam epitaxy, we manage to prepare TI Bi _2 Te _3 thin film with non-conventional fractional quintuple layer (FQL) termination. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that the as-grown Bi _2 Te _3 thin film may not necessarily terminate at the van der Waals gap between two adjacent quintuple layers. The electronic structures of the FQL termination are studied in combination with quasi-particle interference pattern by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and SS calculations by tight binding method. Our results suggest that the topological nature of SSs be preserved on various terminations. Possible ways of achieving exotic topological SSs are also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:41:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-92d41cef3d9c47079cda31f87e25add7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:41:36Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-92d41cef3d9c47079cda31f87e25add72023-08-08T14:28:18ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302016-01-0118909301510.1088/1367-2630/18/9/093015Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminationsXie-Gang Zhu0Yun Zhang1Wei Feng2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8159-0732Bing-Kai Yuan3Qin Liu4Rui-Zhi Qiu5Dong-Hua Xie6Shi-Yong Tan7Yu Duan8Yun Fang9Wen Zhang10Xin-Chun Lai11Science and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaScience and Technology on Surface Physics and Chemistry Laboratory , Jiangyou 621908, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaTopological insulators (TIs) are theoretically believed to possess robust surface states (SSs) for any surface terminations. In reality, for TIs with non-conventional terminations, the directly experimental demonstration of this argument is somehow hindered, due to the difficulties in sample preparation and lack of efficient electronic structure characterization method. Here, by using the state-of-the-art molecular beam epitaxy, we manage to prepare TI Bi _2 Te _3 thin film with non-conventional fractional quintuple layer (FQL) termination. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that the as-grown Bi _2 Te _3 thin film may not necessarily terminate at the van der Waals gap between two adjacent quintuple layers. The electronic structures of the FQL termination are studied in combination with quasi-particle interference pattern by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and SS calculations by tight binding method. Our results suggest that the topological nature of SSs be preserved on various terminations. Possible ways of achieving exotic topological SSs are also discussed.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/9/093015topological insulatornon-conventional terminationsurface statesscanning tunneling microscopy |
| spellingShingle | Xie-Gang Zhu Yun Zhang Wei Feng Bing-Kai Yuan Qin Liu Rui-Zhi Qiu Dong-Hua Xie Shi-Yong Tan Yu Duan Yun Fang Wen Zhang Xin-Chun Lai Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations New Journal of Physics topological insulator non-conventional termination surface states scanning tunneling microscopy |
| title | Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations |
| title_full | Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations |
| title_fullStr | Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations |
| title_short | Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations |
| title_sort | electronic structures of topological insulator bi2te3 surfaces with non conventional terminations |
| topic | topological insulator non-conventional termination surface states scanning tunneling microscopy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/9/093015 |
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