Predicted Growth of Two-Dimensional Topological Insulator Thin Films of III-V Compounds on Si(111) Substrate

Liang-Zi Yao; Christian P Crisostomo; Chun-Chen Yeh; Shu-Ming Lai; Zhi-Quan Huang; Chia-Hsiu Hsu; Feng-Chuan Chuang; Hsin Lin; Arun Bansil

doi:10.1038/srep15463

Predicted Growth of Two-Dimensional Topological Insulator Thin Films of III-V Compounds on Si(111) Substrate

Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 5:5:15463. doi: 10.1038/srep15463.

Authors

Liang-Zi Yao¹, Christian P Crisostomo¹, Chun-Chen Yeh¹, Shu-Ming Lai¹, Zhi-Quan Huang¹, Chia-Hsiu Hsu¹, Feng-Chuan Chuang¹, Hsin Lin^{2

3}, Arun Bansil⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan.
² Centre for Advanced 2D Materials and Graphene Research Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117546.
³ Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117542.
⁴ Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

Abstract

We have carried out systematic first-principles electronic structure computations of growth of ultrathin films of compounds of group III (B, Al, In, Ga, and Tl) with group V (N, P, As, Sb, and Bi) elements on Si(111) substrate, including effects of hydrogenation. Two bilayers (BLs) of AlBi, InBi, GaBi, TlAs, and TlSb are found to support a topological phase over a wide range of strains, in addition to BBi, TlN, and TlBi which can be driven into the nontrivial phase via strain. A large band gap of 134 meV is identified in hydrogenated 2 BL film of InBi. One and two BL films of GaBi and 2 BL films of InBi and TlAs on Si(111) surface possess nontrivial phases with a band gap as large as 121 meV in the case of 2 BL film of GaBi. Persistence of the nontrivial phase upon hydrogenations in the III-V thin films suggests that these films are suitable for growing on various substrates.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't