Jonathan Pierce

Topological insulator Bi2Te3 films synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Topological insulator (TI) materials such as Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 have attracted strong recent interests. Large scale, high quality TI thin films are important for developing TI-based device applications. In this work, structural and electronic properties of Bi2Te3 thin films deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on GaAs (001) substrates were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and electronic transport measurements. The characteristic topological surface states (SS) with a single Dirac cone have been clearly revealed in the electronic band structure measured by ARPES, confirming the TI nature of the MOCVD Bi2Te3 films. Resistivity and Hall effect measurements have demonstrated relatively high bulk carrier mobility of ~350 cm^2/Vs at 300K and ~7,400 cm^2/Vs at 15 K. We have also measured the Seebeck coefficient of the films. Our demonstration of high quality topological insulator films grown by a simple and scalable method is of interests for both fundamental research and practical applications of thermoelectric and TI materials.

Atomic scale structure and chemistry of Bi2Te3/GaAs interfaces grown by metallorganic van der Waals epitaxy

Here, we report the atomic scale structure and chemistry of epitaxial Bi2Te3 thin films grown via metallorganic chemical vapor deposition on (001) GaAs substrates. Using aberration corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF STEM), we report an atomically abrupt interface spanned by a second phase. Further, we demonstrate that interpretation of HAADF STEM image intensities does not provide an unambiguous interface structure. Combining atomic resolution imaging and spectroscopy, we determine the identity of the interfacial species is found to be consistent with that of a bilayer of Ga–Te that terminates GaAs dangling bonds.

Controlled improvement in specific contact resistivity for thermoelectric materials by ion implantation

To obtain reduced specific contact resistivity, iodine donors and silver acceptors were ion-implanted into n-type and p-type (Bi,Sb)2(Se,Te)3 materials, respectively, to achieve >10 times higher doping at the surface. Implantation into n-type materials caused the specific contact resistivity to decrease from 1.7 × 10−6 Ω cm2 to 4.5 × 10−7 Ω cm2. Implantation into p-type materials caused specific contact resistivity to decrease from 7.7 × 10−7 Ω cm2 to 2.7 × 10−7 Ω cm2. For implanted thin-film superlattices, the non-implanted values of 1.4 × 10−7 Ω cm2 and 5.3 × 10−8 Ω cm2 precipitously dropped below the detection limit after implantation, ≤10−8 Ω cm2. These reductions in specific contact resistivity are consistent with an increase in tunneling across the contact.

Experimental Observation of Two Massless Dirac-Fermion Gases in Graphene-Topological Insulator Heterostructure

Graphene and topological insulators (TI) possess two-dimensional (2D) Dirac fermions with distinct physical properties. Integrating these two Dirac materials in a single device creates interesting opportunities for exploring new physics of interacting massless Dirac fermions. Here we report on a practical route to experimental fabrication of graphene–Sb2Te3 heterostructure. The graphene–TI heterostructures are prepared by using a dry transfer of chemical-vapor-deposition grown graphene film. ARPES measurements confirm the coexistence of topological surface states of Sb2Te3 and Dirac π bands of graphene, and identify the twist angle in the graphene–TI heterostructure. The results suggest a potential tunable electronic platform in which two different Dirac low-energy states dominate the transport behavior.