| 1. |
- Salvato, Matteo, et al.
(författare)
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Stoichiometric Bi(2)Se(3)topological insulator ultra-thin films obtained through a new fabrication process for optoelectronic applications
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nanoscale. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2040-3372 .- 2040-3364. ; 12:23, s. 12405-12415
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new fabrication process is developed for growing Bi(2)Se(3)topological insulators in the form of nanowires/nanobelts and ultra-thin films. It consists of two consecutive procedures: first Bi(2)Se(3)nanowires/nanobelts are deposited by standard catalyst free vapour-solid deposition on different substrates positioned inside a quartz tube. Then, the Bi2Se3, stuck on the inner surface of the quartz tube, is re-evaporated and deposited in the form of ultra-thin films on new substrates at a temperature below 100 degrees C, which is of relevance for flexible electronic applications. The method is new, quick, very inexpensive, easy to control and allows obtaining films with different thickness down to one quintuple layer (QL) during the same procedure. The composition and the crystal structure of both the nanowires/nanobelts and the thin films are analysed by different optical, electronic and structural techniques. For the films, scanning tunnelling spectroscopy shows that the Fermi level is positioned in the middle of the energy bandgap as a consequence of the achieved correct stoichiometry. Ultra-thin films, with thickness in the range 1-10 QLs deposited on n-doped Si substrates, show good rectifying properties suitable for their use as photodetectors in the ultra violet-visible-near infrared wavelength range.
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| 2. |
- Fabbri, Filippo, et al.
(författare)
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Silicene nanosheets intercalated in slightly defective epitaxial graphene on a 4H-SiC(0001) substrate
- 2022
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Ingår i: Surfaces and Interfaces. - : Elsevier BV. - 2468-0230. ; 33
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the last years, epitaxial graphene (epi-Gr) demonstrated to be an excellent substrate for the synthesis of epitaxial or intercalated two dimensional (2D) materials. Among 2D materials, silicene has been for a long time a dream for the scientific community, for its importance both from the fundamental and the application point of view. Despite the theoretical prediction of silicene energetic viability, experimentally the substrate proved to play a fundamental role in the Si atom adsorption process leading, in case of metal substrates, to a mixed phase formation and, for van der Waals chemical inert substrates, to Si atom intercalation even at room temperature. Such an intercalation has been associated to the presence of surface defects. Very recently it has been shown that hundreds of nanometer area quasi-free standing silicene can be grown on top of an almost ideal epi-Gr layer synthesized on 6H-SiC substrate. In the present paper, using scanning tunneling microscopy and Raman analysis, we demonstrate that a non-ideal (slightly defective) epi-Gr network obtained by thermal decomposition of Si-terminated 4H-SiC(0001) enables the Si atom penetration forming intercalated silicene nanosheets at room temperature, thus opening a path towards controlled intercalation of silicon atoms through epi-Gr and formation of silicene nanosheets for future applications in nanotechnology.
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| 3. |
- Salvato, Matteo, et al.
(författare)
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Nanometric Moire Stripes on the Surface of Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator
- 2022
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Ingår i: ACS Nano. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1936-086X .- 1936-0851. ; 16:9, s. 13860-13868
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mismatch between adjacent atomic layers in low-dimensional materials, generating moire patterns, has recently emerged as a suitable method to tune electronic properties by inducing strong electron correlations and generating novel phenomena. Beyond graphene, van der Waals structures such as three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TIs) appear as ideal candidates for the study of these phenomena due to the weak coupling between layers. Here we discover and investigate the origin of 1D moire stripes on the surface of Bi2Se3 TI thin films and nanobelts. Scanning tunneling microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveal a unidirectional strained top layer, in the range 14-25%, with respect to the relaxed bulk structure, which cannot be ascribed to the mismatch with the substrate lattice but rather to strain induced by a specific growth mechanism. The 1D stripes are characterized by a spatial modulation of the local density of states, which is strongly enhanced compared to the bulk system. Density functional theory calculations confirm the experimental findings, showing that the TI surface Dirac cone is preserved in the 1D moire stripes, as expected from the topology, though with a heavily renormalized Fermi velocity that also changes between the top and valley of the stripes. The strongly enhanced density of surface states in the TI 1D moire superstructure can be instrumental in promoting strong correlations in the topological surface states, which can be responsible for surface magnetism and topological superconductivity.
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