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Deep Insight Into the Electronic Structure of Ternary Topological Insulators: A Comparative Study of PbBi 4 Te 7 and PbBi 6 Te 10
Author(s) -
Pacilè D.,
Eremeev S. V.,
Caputo M.,
Pisarra M.,
De Luca O.,
Grimaldi I.,
Fujii J.,
Aliev Z. S.,
Babanly M. B.,
Vobornik I.,
Agostino R. G.,
Goldoni A.,
Chulkov E. V.,
Papagno M.
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.201800341
Subject(s) - topological insulator , condensed matter physics , photoemission spectroscopy , ternary operation , topology (electrical circuits) , van der waals force , density functional theory , angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy , fermi level , surface states , materials science , scanning tunneling microscope , electronic structure , valence (chemistry) , physics , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , surface (topology) , quantum mechanics , electron , geometry , mathematics , nuclear magnetic resonance , combinatorics , molecule , computer science , programming language
By means of angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements, the electronic band structure of the three‐dimensional PbBi 4 Te 7 and PbBi 6 Te 10 topological insulators is compared. The measurements clearly reveal coexisting topological and multiple Rashba‐like split states close to the Fermi level for both systems. The observed topological states derive from different surface terminations, as confirmed by scanning tunneling microscopy measurements, and are well‐described by the density functional theory simulations. Both the topological and the Rashba‐like states reveal a prevalent two‐dimensional character barely affected by air exposure. X‐ray and valence band photoemission measurements suggest Rashba‐like states stem from the van der Waals gap expansion, consistently with density functional theory calculations.