Relocation of the topological surface state of Bi₂Se₃ beneath the surface by Ag intercalation

2011/12/26 by M. Ye, Ye, M., S. V. Eremeev +35
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1112.5869

5 pages, 4 figures

arxiv created 2011/12/26 · arxiv updated 2011/12/30

Abstract

We studied the Ag-intercalated 3D topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, combined with a first principles calculations. We demonstrate that silver atoms deposited on the surface of Bi₂Se₃ are intercalated between the quintuple layer (QL) units of the crystal, causing a expansion of the van der Waals gaps and the detachment of topmost QLs from the bulk crystal. This leads to a relocation (in the real space) of the the topological state beneath the detached quintuple layers, accompanied by the emergence of parabolic and "M-shaped" trivial bands localized above the relocated topological states. These novel findings open a pathway to the engineering of Dirac fermions shielded from the ambient contamination and may facilitate the realization of fault-tolerant quantum devices.

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