Epitaxial growth and characterization of Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$ thin films on (0001) sapphire substrates

Abstract

We report the molecular beam epitaxy of Bi_1-xSb_x thin films ($0\le x\le 1$) on (0001) sapphire substrates using a thin (Bi,Sb)${}_2$Te${}_3$ buffer layer. Characterization of the films using reflection high energy diffraction, x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals epitaxial growth of films of reasonable structural quality. This is further confirmed via x-ray diffraction pole figures that determine the epitaxial registry between the thin film and substrate. We further investigate the microscopic structure of thin films via Raman spectroscopy, demonstrating how the vibrational modes vary as the composition changes and discussing the implications for the crystal structure. We also characterize the samples using electrical transport measurements.

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Spin Hall conductivity in Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$ as an experimental test of bulk-boundary correspondence
• Preparation and Characterization of High Quality Bi1-xSbx Thin Films: A Sputtering Deposition Approach