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X‐Ray Structure Analysis of Ultra‐Thin Silver Films on the (0001) Surface of the Topological Insulator Bi 2 Se 3
Author(s) -
Roy Sumalay,
Polyakov Andrey,
Mohseni Katayoon,
Meyerheim Holger L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.201800138
Subject(s) - topological insulator , bismuth , materials science , molecular beam epitaxy , monolayer , van der waals force , thin film , adsorption , diffraction , substrate (aquarium) , crystallography , condensed matter physics , layer (electronics) , epitaxy , nanotechnology , optics , chemistry , molecule , physics , oceanography , organic chemistry , geology , metallurgy
Using surface X‐ray diffraction we have studied the atomic structure of ultra‐thin sliver films deposited in the one monolayer thickness‐regime on the (0001) surface of the Topological Insulator Bi 2 Se 3 . Depending on the preparation of the substrate surface, different interface structures are formed. For sputter‐annealed single crystalline Bi 2 Se 3 (0001) silver atoms substitute bismuth atoms within the first quintuple layer and simultaneously reside in surface hollow sites. When silver is deposited on a substrate grown by molecular beam epitaxy and which was only annealed prior to silver deposition, only adsorption in surface hollow sites is observed. Neither intercalation into the van der Waals gap nor its vertical expansion is observed in any case. An expansion induced appearance of surface states can be excluded.