Growth of quantum well films of topological insulator Bi2Se3 on insulating substrate

Insulating substrates are crucial for electrical transport study and room temperature application of topological insulator films at thickness of only several nanometers. High quality quantum well films of Bi2Se3, a typical three-dimensional topological insulator, have been grown on alpha-Al2O3 (sapphire) (0001) by molecular beam epitaxy. The films exhibit well-defined quantum well states and surface states, suggesting the uniform thickness over macroscopic area. The Bi2Se3 thin films on sapphire (0001) provide a good system to study low-dimensional physics of topological insulators since conduction contribution from the substrate is negligibly small.