Epitaxial growth of topological insulator Bi2Se3 film on Si(111) with atomically sharp interface

Abstract

Atomically sharp epitaxial growth of Bi2Se3 films is achieved on Si (111) substrate with MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy). Two-step growth process is found to be a key to achieve interfacial-layer-free epitaxial Bi2Se3 films on Si substrates. With a single-step high temperature growth, second phase clusters are formed at an early stage. On the other hand, with low temperature growth, the film tends to be disordered even in the absence of a second phase. With a low temperature initial growth followed by a high temperature growth, second-phase-free atomically sharp interface is obtained between Bi2Se3 and Si substrate, as verified by RHEED (Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction), TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction). The lattice constant of Bi2Se3 is observed to relax to its bulk value during the first quintuple layer according to RHEED analysis, implying the absence of strain from the substrate. TEM shows a fully epitaxial structure of Bi2Se3 film down to the first quintuple layer without any second phase or an amorphous layer.

20 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• Quantized Anomalous Hall Effect in Magnetic Topological Insulators
• Gate-Voltage Control of Chemical Potential and Weak Anti-localization in Bismuth Selenide
• Strong surface scattering in ultrahigh mobility Bi2Se3 topological insulator crystals
• Momentum-Resolved Landau-Level Spectroscopy of Dirac Surface State in Bi2Se3
• Transmission of topological surface states through surface barriers
• Sr flux stability against oxidation in oxide-MBE environment: flux, geometry, and pressure dependence
• Crucible aperture: an effective way to reduce source oxidation in oxide molecular beam epitaxy process

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Topological-Metal to Band-Insulator Transition in (Bi1-xInx)2Se3 Thin Films
• Observation of inverse spin Hall effect in bismuth selenide
• Emergence of decoupled surface transport channels in bulk insulating Bi2Se3 thin films
• Molecular beam epitaxy of high structural quality Bi2Se3 on lattice matched InP(111) substrates
• Efficient Charge-Spin Conversion and Magnetization Switching though Rashba Effect at Topological Insulator/Ag Interface
• Suppressing twin formation in Bi2Se3 thin films
• Characterizing the Structure of Topological Insulator Thin Films
• Coherent control of injection currents in high-quality films of Bi2Se3
• Restoring Pristine Bi2Se3 Surface with an Effective Se Decapping Process
• Finite-size and composition-driven topological phase transition in (Bi${}_{1-x}$In${}_x$)${}_2$Se${}_3$ thin films
• Robust topological surface states of Bi2Se3 thin films on amorphous SiO2/Si substrate and a large ambipolar gating effect
• Helicity dependent photovoltaic effect in Bi2Se3 under normal incident light
• Dirac cone shift of a passivated topological Bi2Se3 interface state
• Disorder-driven topological phase transition in Bi2Se3 films
• Crystal structure and epitaxy of Bi2Te3 films grown on Si
• Thickness and growth-condition dependence of \emph{in-situ} mobility and carrier density of epitaxial thin-film Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Coexistence of bulk and surface states probed by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ with high charge-carrier density
• Giant plateau in the THz Faraday angle in gated Bi2Se3