Dimensional crossover and topological nature of the thin films of a three-dimensional topological insulator by band gap engineering

Abstract

Identification and control of topological phases in topological thin films offer great opportunity for fundamental research and the fabrication of topology-based devices. Here, combining molecular beam epitaxy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab-initio calculations, we investigate the electronic structure evolution in (Bi1-xInx)2Se3 films with thickness from 2 to 13 quintuple layers. We identify several phases with their characteristic topological nature and evolution between them, i.e., dimensional crossover from a three-dimensional topological insulator with gapless surface state to its two-dimensional counterpart with gapped surface state, and topological phase transition from topological insulator to a normal semiconductor with increasing In concentration x. Furthermore, by introducing In alloying as an external knob of band gap engineering, we experimentally demonstrated the trivial topological nature of Bi2Se3 thin films (below 6 quintuple layers) as two-dimensional gapped systems, in consistent with our theoretical calculations. Our results provide not only a comprehensive phase diagram of (Bi1-xInx)2Se3 and a route to control its phase evolution, but also a practical way to experimentally determine the topological properties of a gapped compound by topological phase transition and band gap engineering.

arXiv comment24 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (31)

• Topological Insulators
• Topological insulators and superconductors
• Maximally-localized generalized Wannier functions for composite energy bands
• Topological Insulators in Three Dimensions
• Weyl and Dirac Semimetals in Three Dimensional Solids
• Topological Insulators with Inversion Symmetry
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• WannierTools: An open-source software package for novel topological materials
• Maximally-localized Wannier functions for entangled energy bands
• Floquet Topological Insulator in Semiconductor Quantum Wells
• Spin Transfer Torque Generated by the Topological Insulator Bi_2Se_3
• Crossover of Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator of Bi2Se3 to the Two-Dimensional Limit
• Topological crystalline insulator states in Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Se
• Topological Crystalline Insulators and Topological Superconductors: From Concepts to Materials
• Massive Dirac fermions and spin physics in an ultrathin film of topological insulator
• Oscillatory crossover from two dimensional to three dimensional topological insulators
• Electric Field Induced Topological Phase Transition in Two-Dimensional Few-layer Black Phosphorus
• Topological Phase Transition and Texture Inversion in a Tunable Topological Insulator
• Quintuple-layer epitaxy of high-quality Bi2Se3 thin films for topological insulator
• Anomalous Finite Size Effects on Surface States in the Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Emergent Space-time Supersymmetry at the Boundary of a Topological Phase
• A precise method for visualizing dispersive features in image plots
• Classification of interacting electronic topological insulators in three dimensions
• A sudden collapse in the transport lifetime across the topological phase transition in $(B{i}_{1-x}I{n}_x{)}_{2}S{e}_3$
• Unexpected mass acquisition of Dirac fermions at the quantum phase transition of a topological insulator
• Topological-Metal to Band-Insulator Transition in (Bi1-xInx)2Se3 Thin Films
• Topological insulator Bi2Se3 thin films grown on double-layer graphene by molecular beam epitaxy
• Topological Crystalline Insulator Nanomembrane with Strain-Tunable Band Gap
• Superlattices of Bi2Se3/In2Se3: Growth Characteristics and Structural Properties
• Finite-size and composition-driven topological phase transition in (Bi${}_{1-x}$In${}_x$)${}_2$Se${}_3$ thin films
• Sudden gap-closure across the topological phase transition in Bi${}_{2-x}$In${}_x$Se${}_3$

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Rational design principles of quantum anomalous Hall effect from superlattice-like magnetic topological insulators
• At the verge of topology: vacancy-driven quantum spin Hall in trivial insulators
• Electrical control of intrinsic nonlinear Hall effect in antiferromagnetic topological insulator sandwiches
• Low-energy modeling of three-dimensional topological insulator nanostructures
• Topological properties of finite-size heterostructures of magnetic topological insulators and superconductors
• Exploring Topological Transport in Pt${}_2$HgSe${}_3$ Nanoribbons: Insights for Spintronic Device Integration
• Photo-induced Multiply Quantized Vortex States in Dirac-like Materials
• Dimensional crossover of class D real-space topological invariants
• Electrical probe of spin-spiral order in quantum spin Hall/spin-spiral magnet van der Waals heterostructures