Three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) are a class of materials for which the bulk is insulating, while the surface is necessarily metallic. A band inversion that occurs in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, and conduction and valence bands with opposite parities are necessary conditions for the existence of this class of materials. The metallicity of the surface states appears as a consequence of the topology of the bulk and these states are characterized by massless Dirac dispersions and helical spin polarization that protect the surface states against backscattering. The robustness of the topological surface states further implies that they are not destroyed by non-magnetic impurities or defects.
Since their initial conception, a vast amount of theoretical studies have predicted very interesting features stemming from the topological surface states. An example of that can be found when breaking the time-reversal symmetry by introducing magnetic order in the system, which can lead to exotic phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect. The properties exhibited by these systems are expected to be of high importance both in fundamental research as well as in technological applications. However, the major difficulty remains the access to purely topological surface states. The remaining bulk conductivity of the TIs such as Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3 or Sb2Te3 still hinders the experimental realization of some of the predicted phenomena. This highlights the need of high-quality bulk-insulating materials with ultra-clean surfaces and interfaces, which can only be achieved with delicate sample preparation and characterization methods.
The present work is part of the effort to fabricate high-quality TI films in a controlled manner. This shall then allow more complex investigations, such as interface effects and possibilities to engineer the band structure of the TIs. The former will be explored mainly in the form of heterostructures of Bi2Te3 and magnetic insulating layers, whereas the latter will focus on the fabrication of Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 heterostructures. Most of the important properties of the samples are measured under ultra-high vacuum conditions, ensuring reliable results. Furthermore, in situ capping with ordered Te also allows for more sophisticated ex situ experiments.
In a first step, the optimization of Bi2Te3 thin films grown on Al2O3 (0001) substrates was explored. Spectroscopic and structural characterization measurements showed that it is possible to obtain consistently bulk-insulating TI films with good structural quality, despite the lattice mismatch between Bi2Te3 and Al2O3 (0001). Magnetoconductance measurements showed a prominent weak anti-localization effect, confirming the existence of two-dimensional surface states.
In order to explore the consequences of breaking the time-reversal symmetry characteristic of TIs, Bi2Te3 was interfaced with several ferro- or ferrimagnetic insulating (FI) layers in heterostructures. EuO, Fe3O4, Y3Fe5O12 and Tm3Fe5O12 were chosen as possible candidates. Systematic optimization and characterization studies showed that interfaces of Bi2Te3 and EuO, as well as Fe3O4 on top of Bi2Te3, yield poor quality samples with significant chemical reactions between the layers. Nevertheless, high-quality Bi2Te3 could be grown on Fe3O4 (001), Fe3O4 (111), Y3Fe5O12 (111) and Tm3Fe5O12 (111). Clean interfaces and intact top topological surface states were confirmed by photoemission spectroscopy. Moreover, transport signatures of a gap opening in the topological surface states were found, namely a suppression of the weak anti-localization effect and the observation of the anomalous Hall effect. However, x-ray circular magnetic dichroism (XMCD) was not observed for any of the heterostructures. A key conclusion from this study is that the ferromagnetism induced by the magnetic proximity effect is too weak to be detected by XMCD. On hindsight, one can infer that the magnetic proximity effect cannot be strong since the bonding between the TI and the magnetic insulator substrate is of the van der Waals type, and not covalent like in transition metal oxides or metallic heterostructures.
It is known that a charge compensation between electron- and hole-doping can be achieved when combining Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3, which can also tune the position of the Dirac point. With this goal in mind, the fabrication of ternary (Bi(x)Sb(1−x))2Te3 compounds and Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 heterostructures was explored in the next step. Although pure Sb2Te3 and (Bi(x)Sb(1−x))2Te3 did not yield good quality samples, the fabrication of Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 heterostructures emerged as a promising alternative route. Photoelectron spectroscopy allowed not only to identify the crucial role of the first few Sb2Te3 top layers, which modulate the topological surface states, but also to characterize the intermixing of the TI layers at the interface.
In a final study, Fe(1+y)Te thin films were grown on MgO (001) substrates employing a Te-limited growth method. This allowed to obtain nominally stoichiometric films, as evidenced by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, XMCD and x-ray diffraction measurements. This preliminary study opens the way for the investigation of TI/superconductor interfaces and to delve into the topological superconductivity arising from the proximity effect.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:78462 |
| Date | 14 March 2022 |
| Creators | Mota Pereira, Vanda Marisa |
| Contributors | Tjeng, Liu Hao, Geck, Jochen, Technische Universität Dresden, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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