Growth and characterization of $\alpha$-Sn thin films on In- and Sb-rich reconstructions of InSb(001)

• Main Authors: Engel, Aaron N, Dempsey, Connor P, Inbar, Hadass S, Dong, Jason T, Nishihaya, Shinichi, Chang, Yu Hao, Fedorov, Alexei V, Hashimoto, Makoto, Lu, Donghui, Palmstrøm, Christopher J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 27-11-2023
• Subjects: Physics - Materials Science
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.16352

$\alpha$-Sn thin films can exhibit a variety of topologically non-trivial
phases. Both studying the transitions between these phases and making use of
these phases in eventual applications requires good control over the electronic
and structural quality of $\alpha$-Sn thin films. $\alpha$-Sn growth on InSb
often results in out-diffusion of indium, a p-type dopant. By growing
$\alpha$-Sn via molecular beam epitaxy on the Sb-rich c(4$\times$4) surface
reconstruction of InSb(001) rather than the In-rich c(8$\times$2), we
demonstrate a route to substantially decrease and minimize this indium
incorporation. The reduction in indium concentration allows for the study of
the surface and bulk Dirac nodes in $\alpha$-Sn via angle-resolved
photoelectron spectroscopy without the common approaches of bulk doping or
surface dosing, simplifying topological phase identification. The lack of
indium incorporation is verified in angle-resolved and -integrated ultraviolet
photoelectron spectroscopy as well as in clear changes in the Hall response.