Quasiparticle interference on the surface of Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ terminated (PbSe)${}_5$(Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$)${}_6$

Abstract

Among the family of topological superconductors derived from {\BiSe}, ${\mathrm{Cu}}_x(\mathrm{PbSe}{)}_5({\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Se}}_3{)}_6$ is unique in its surface termination of a single quintuple layer (QL) of the topological insulator (TI) \BiSe{} on an ordinary insulator PbSe. Here, we report a combined scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) characterization of the cleaved surface of the parent compound $(\mathrm{PbSe}{)}_5({\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Se}}_3{)}_6$ (PSBS). Interestingly, the potential disorder due to the random distribution of native defects is only $\Gamma \sim 4\mathrm{meV}$, comparable to the smallest reported for TIs. Performing high-resolution quasiparticle interference imaging (QPI) near the Fermi energy ($E-E_{\mathrm{F}}=-1\mathrm{eV}\mathrm{to}0.6\mathrm{eV}$) we reconstruct the dispersion relation of the dominant spectral feature and our ab initio calculations show that this surface feature originates from two bands with Rashba-like splitting due to strong spin-orbit coupling and inversion symmetry breaking. Moreover, only a small hexagonal distortion of the calculated Fermi surface is seen in the full momentum space distribution of the measured scattering data. Nevertheless, the scattering pattern at lower energies transforms into a flower-like shape with suppressed intensity along the $\overline{\Gamma \mathrm{K}}$ direction. We show that this effect is not due to the forbidden backscattering in the spin-momentum locked surface state in Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$ but reflects the threefold symmetry of the scattering potential.

13 pages with 13 figures. Submitted to Physical Review B

References in corpus (25)

• Topological superconductors: a review
• Crossover of Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator of Bi2Se3 to the Two-Dimensional Limit
• Hexagonal Warping Effects in the Surface States of Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Massive Dirac fermions and spin physics in an ultrathin film of topological insulator
• Effective continuous model for surface states and thin films of three dimensional topological insulators
• Spatial Fluctuations of Helical Dirac Fermions on the Surface of Topological Insulators
• Surface Scattering via Bulk Continuum States in the 3D Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Manipulation of Topological States and Bulk Band Gap Using Natural Heterostructures of a Topological Insulator
• A new superconductor derived from topological insulator heterostructure
• Revealing puddles of electrons and holes in compensated topological insulators
• Charge puddles in the bulk and on the surface of the topological insulator BiSbTeSe${}_2$ studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and optical spectroscopy
• Generalized Anderson's theorem for superconductors derived from topological insulators
• Sign inversion in the superconducting order parameter of LiFeAs inferred from Bogoliubov quasiparticle interference
• Effect of bulk charged impurities on the bulk and surface transport in three-dimensional topological insulators
• Nematic Superconductivity in Cu1.5(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6
• Observation of Two-Dimensional Bulk Electronic States in a Superconducting Topological Insulator Heterostructure Cux(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6: Implications for Unconventional Superconductivity
• The AiiDA-KKR plugin and its application to high-throughput impurity embedding into a topological insulator
• Nano-mosaic of Topological Dirac States on the Surface of Pb5Bi24Se41 Observed by Nano-ARPES
• Dispersing artifacts in FT-STS: a comparison of set point effects across acquisition modes
• Ab-initio Theory of Fourier-transformed Quasiparticle Interference Maps and Application to the Topological Insulator Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$
• Observability of superconductivity in Sr-doped Bi2Se3 at the surface using scanning tunneling microscope
• Low-energy modeling of three-dimensional topological insulator nanostructures
• Characterizing the chemical potential disorder in the topological insulator (Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_x$)${}_2$Te${}_3$ thin films
• Scanning tunneling spectroscopy investigations of superconducting-doped topological insulators: Experimental pitfalls and results
• Bulk and surface electron scattering in disordered Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ probed by quasiparticle interference