Experimental verification of the surface termination in the topological insulator TlBiSe${}_2$ using core-level photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy

Abstract

The surface termination of the promising topological insulator TlBiSe${}_2$ has been studied by surface and bulk sensitive probes. Our scanning tunneling microscopy has unmasked for the first time the unusual surface morphology of TlBiSe${}_2$ obtained by cleaving, where islands are formed by residual atoms on the cleaved plane. The chemical condition of these islands was identified using core-level spectroscopy. We observed thallium core-level spectra that are strongly deformed by a surface component in sharp contrast to the other elements. We propose a simple explanation for this behavior by assuming that the sample cleaving breaks the bonding between thallium and selenium atoms, leaving the thallium layer partially covering the selenium layer. These findings will assist the interpretation of future experimental and theoretical studies on this surface.

8 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• Topological Field Theory of Time-Reversal Invariant Insulators
• Coexistence of the topological state and a two-dimensional electron gas on the surface of Bi2Se3
• Surface quantized anomalous Hall current and magneto-electric effect in magnetically disordered topological insulators
• Direct Evidence for the Dirac-Cone Topological Surface States in Ternary Chalcogenide TlBiSe2
• Recoil effects of photoelectrons in a solid

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Response of the topological surface state to surface disorder in TlBiSe${}_2$
• Surface Shubnikov-de Hass oscillations and non-zero Berry phases of the topological hole conduction in Tl${}_{1-x}$Bi${}_{1+x}$Se${}_2$
• Modeling Near-Surface Bound Electron States in Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator: Analytical and Numerical Approaches
• Role of surface termination in realizing well-isolated topological surface states within the bulk band gap in TlBiSe${}_2$ and TlBiTe${}_2$
• Instability of the topological surface state in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ upon deposition of gold
• Growth, Morphology and Stability of Au in Contact with the Bi2Se3(0001) Surface
• Anomalies in the core level spectroscopy of a noncentrosymmetric solid, BiPd
• Metal-insulator transition and tunable Dirac-cone surface state in the topological insulator TlBi1-xSbxTe2 studied by angle-resolved photoemission