Preparation of clean surfaces and Se vacancy formation in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ by ion bombardment and annealing

Abstract

Bismuth Selenide (Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$) is a topological insulator (TI) with a structure consisting of stacked quintuple layers. Single crystal surfaces are commonly prepared by mechanical cleaving. This work explores the use of low energy Ar${}^{+}$ ion bombardment and annealing (IBA) as an alternative method to produce reproducible and stable Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ surfaces under ultra-high vacuum (UHV). It is found that a well-ordered surface can be prepared by a single cycle of 1 keV Ar${}^{+}$ ion bombardment and 30 min of annealing. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and detailed low energy ion scattering (LEIS) measurements show no differences between IBA-prepared surfaces and those prepared by $\text{in situ}$ cleaving in UHV. Analysis of the LEED patterns shows that the optimal annealing temperature is 450°C. Angular LEIS scans reveal the formation of surface Se vacancies when the annealing temperature exceeds 520°C.

32 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Non-Abelian Anyons and Topological Quantum Computation
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• Bulk Fermi surface coexistence with Dirac surface state in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$: a comparison of photoemission and Shubnikov-de Haas measurements
• Rapid Surface Oxidation as a Source of Surface Degradation Factor for Bi2Se3
• Enhanced spin Seebeck effect signal due to spin-momentum locked topological surface states
• Toward the intrinsic limit of topological insulator Bi2Se3
• Termination of Single Crystal Bi2Se3 Surfaces Prepared by Various Methods
• Surface Structure of In Situ Cleaved Single Crystal Bi2Se3 Measured by Low Energy Ion Scattering

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Materials analysis and focused ion beam nanofabrication of topological insulator Bi2Se3
• The growth of bismuth on Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ and the stability of the first bilayer
• Spatial Distribution of Topological Surface State Electrons in Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ Probed by Low Energy Na${}^{+}$ Ion Scattering
• Spatial Distribution of Topological Surface State Electrons in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ Probed by Na${}^{+}$ Low Energy Ion Scattering
• Halogen adsorption and reaction with Bi${}_2$(Se,Te)${}_3$ and Bi/Bi${}_2$(Se,Te)${}_3$