No Arabic abstract
Sub-angstrom Co coverage, being deposited on BiSbTeSe2(0001) surface at 200-330 C, opens a band gap at the Dirac point, with the shift of the Dirac point position caused by RT adsorbate pre-deposition. Temperature dependent measurements in 15-150 K range have shown no band gap width change. This fact indicates the nonmagnetic nature of the gap which may be attributed to the chemical hybridization of surface states upon the introduction of Co adatoms, which decrease crystallographic symmetry and eliminate topological protection of the surface states.
The Dirac point gap at the surface of the antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ is a highly debated issue. While the early photoemission measurements reported on large gaps in agreement with theoretical predictions, other experiments found vanishingly small splitting of the MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ Dirac cone. Here, we study the crystalline and electronic structure of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$(0001) using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S), micro($mu$)-laser angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our topographic STM images clearly reveal features corresponding to point defects in the surface Te and subsurface Bi layers that we identify with the aid of STM simulations as Bi$_text{Te}$ antisites (Bi atoms at the Te sites) and Mn$_text{Bi}$ substitutions (Mn atoms at the Bi sites), respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments further evidence the presence of cation (Mn-Bi) intermixing. Altogether, this affects the distribution of the Mn atoms, which, inevitably, leads to a deviation of the MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ magnetic structure from that predicted for the ideal crystal structure. Our transport measurements suggest that the degree of this deviation varies from sample to sample. Consistently, the ARPES/STS experiments reveal that the Dirac point gap of the topological surface state is different for different samples/sample cleavages. Our DFT surface electronic structure calculations show that, due to the predominant localization of the topological surface state near the Bi layers, Mn$_text{Bi}$ defects can cause a strong reduction of the MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ Dirac point gap, given the recently proved antiparallel alignment of the Mn$_text{Bi}$ moments with respect to those of the Mn layer. Our results provide a key to puzzle out the MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ Dirac point gap mystery.
Graphene has shown great application potentials as the host material for next generation electronic devices. However, despite its intriguing properties, one of the biggest hurdles for graphene to be useful as an electronic material is its lacking of an energy gap in the electronic spectra. This, for example, prevents the use of graphene in making transistors. Although several proposals have been made to open a gap in graphenes electronic spectra, they all require complex engineering of the graphene layer. Here we show that when graphene is epitaxially grown on the SiC substrate, a gap of ~ 0.26 is produced. This gap decreases as the sample thickness increases and eventually approaches zero when the number of layers exceeds four. We propose that the origin of this gap is the breaking of sublattice symmetry owing to the graphene-substrate interaction. We believe our results highlight a promising direction for band gap engineering of graphene.
Hybrid perovskites are a rapidly growing research area, having reached photovoltaic power conversion efficiencies of over 25 %. We apply a symmetry-motivated analysis method to analyse X-ray pair distribution function data of the cubic phases of the hybrid perovskites MAPb$X_3$ ($X$ = I, Br, Cl). We demonstrate that the local structure of the inorganic components of MAPb$X_3$ ($X$ = I, Br, Cl) are dominated by scissoring type deformations of the Pb$X_6$ octahedra. We find these modes to have a larger amplitude than equivalent distortions in the $A$-site deficient perovskite ScF$_3$ and demonstrate that they show a significant departure from the harmonic approximation. Calculations performed on an all-inorganic analogue to the hybrid perovskite, FrPbBr$_3$, show that the large amplitudes of the scissoring modes are coupled to an opening of the electronic band gap. Finally, we use density functional theory calculations to show that the organic MA cations reorientate to accomodate the large amplitude scissoring modes.
Here we report the successful growth of MoSe2 on single layer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on Ru(0001) substrate by using molecular beam epitaxy. We investigated the electronic structures of MoSe2 using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Surprisingly, we found that the quasi-particle gap of the MoSe2 on hBN/Ru is about 0.25 eV smaller than those on graphene or graphite substrates. We attribute this result to the strong interaction between hBN/Ru which causes residual metallic screening from the substrate. The surface of MoSe2 exhibits Moire pattern that replicates the Moire pattern of hBN/Ru. In addition, the electronic structure and the work function of MoSe2 are modulated electrostatically with an amplitude of ~ 0.13 eV. Most interestingly, this electrostatic modulation is spatially in phase with the Moire pattern of hBN on Ru(0001) whose surface also exhibits a work function modulation of the same amplitude.
The quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), characterized by dissipationless quantized edge transport, relies crucially on a non-trivial topology of the electronic bulk bandstructure and a robust ferromagnetic order that breaks time-reversal symmetry. Magnetically-doped topological insulators (TIs) satisfy both these criteria, and are the most promising quantum materials for realizing the QAHE. Because the spin of the surface electrons aligns along the direction of magnetic-impurity exchange field, only magnetic TIs with an out-of-plane magnetization are thought to open a gap at the Dirac point (DP) of the surface states, resulting in the QAHE. Using a continuum model supported by atomistic tight-binding and first-principles calculations of transition-metal doped Bi$_2$Se$_3$, we show that a surface-impurity potential generates an additional effective magnetic field which spin-polarizes the surface electrons along the direction perpendicular to the surface. The predicted gap-opening mechanism results from the interplay of this additional field and the in-plane magnetization that shifts the position of the DP away from the $Gamma$ point. This effect is similar to the one originating from the hexagonal warping correction of the bandstructure but is one order of magnitude stronger. Our calculations show that in a doped TI with in-plane magnetization the impurity-potential-induced gap at the DP is comparable to the one opened by an out-of-plane magnetization.