Protective capping of topological surface states of intrinsically insulating Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$

Abstract

We have identified epitaxially grown elemental Te as a capping material that is suited to protect the topological surface states of intrinsically insulating Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$. By using angle-resolved photoemission, we were able to show that the Te overlayer leaves the dispersive bands of the surface states intact and that it does not alter the chemical potential of the Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ thin film. From in-situ four-point contact measurements, we observed that the conductivity of the capped film is still mainly determined by the metallic surface states and that the contribution of the capping layer is minor. Moreover, the Te overlayer can be annealed away in vacuum to produce a clean Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ surface in its pristine state even after the exposure of the capped film to air. Our findings will facilitate well-defined and reliable ex-situ experiments on the properties of Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ surface states with nontrivial topology.

5 pages, 5 figures, 2 pages supplemental material accepted for publication in AIP Advances

References in corpus (4)

• Superconducting proximity effect and Majorana fermions at the surface of a topological insulator
• Rapid Surface Oxidation as a Source of Surface Degradation Factor for Bi2Se3
• Intrinsic conduction through topological surface states of insulating Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ epitaxial thin films
• Protective capping of topological surface states of intrinsically insulating Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$

Cited by in corpus (15)

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• Gate-tunable transport properties of in-situ capped Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ topological insulator thin films
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• Quantum Transport and Potential of Topological States for Thermoelectricity in Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ Thin Films
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• Quantum Transport in Air-stable Na3Bi Thin Films
• Interfacing topological insulators and ferrimagnets: Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ and Fe${}_3$O${}_4$ heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy
• Aggregation of BiTe Monolayer on Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$(111) Induced by Diffusion of Intercalated Atoms in van der Waals Gap
• Pre-Patterned Superconducting Contacts for Clean Superconductor-Topological Material Interfaces Enabling Long-Range Josephson Coupling
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