Understanding the Atomic Structure of a Topological Insulator–2D Material Heterostructure

ORAL

Abstract

Topological insulators have emerged as promising materials for efficient spin–charge conversion. One avenue to harness the promise of this new class of materials is to integrate them into heterostructures with two-dimensional materials. However, the ability to grow films with the desired properties relies on understanding the film structure and defects on the atomic scale. Here, detailed structural characterization is presented, in which aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy of (Bi,Sb)2Te3 grown on h-BN elucidates details of the heterostructure. The presence of several types of grain boundaries is highlighted, in addition to the identification of an impurity phase and small asymmetries within the film thickness. Finally, a comparison is drawn between the features observed and knowledge gained from the study of topological insulator films grown on more traditional, single-crystal, bulk substrates.

*This work was supported by C-SPIN, one of the six centers of STARnet, a Semiconductor Research Corporation program, sponsored by MARCO and DARPA.

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Presenters

  • Danielle Reifsnyder Hickey

    • Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota

Authors

  • Danielle Reifsnyder Hickey

    • Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota

  • Ryan Wu

    • Chemical Engineering and Material Science, University of Minnesota
    • Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota

  • Joon Sue Lee

    • University of California Santa Barbara
    • California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • University of California - Santa Barbara
    • Materials Science, University of California - Santa Barbara
    • Univ of California - Santa Barbara

  • Mahendra DC

    • Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota

  • Jianping Wang

    • Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
    • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota

  • Nitin Samarth

    • Department of Physics and Material Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University
    • Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
    • Pennsylvania State University
    • Pennsylvania State Univ
    • Dept. of Physics, Pennsylvania State Univ
    • Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, Pennsylvania State University

  • Andre Mkhoyan

    • Chemical Engineering and Material Science, University of Minnesota
    • Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota
    • Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Univ of Minnesota - Twin Cities