Compositional tuning in sputter-grown highly-oriented Bi–Te films and their optical and electronic structures

Abstract

Growth of Bi–Te films by helicon-wave magnetron sputtering is systematically explored using alloy targets. The film compositions obtained are found to strongly depend on both the sputtering and antenna-coil powers. The obtainable film compositions range from Bi₅₅Te₄₅ to Bi₄₃Te₅₇ when a Bi₂Te₃ alloy target is used, and from Bi₄₂Te₅₈ to Bi₄₀Te₆₀ (Bi₂Te₃) for a Te-rich Bi₃₀Te₇₀ target. All films show strong orientation of the van der Waals layers (00l planes) parallel to the substrate. The atomic level stacking of Bi₂Te₃ quintuple and Bi bi-layers has been directly observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Band structure simulations reveal that Bi-rich Bi₄Te₃ bulk is a zero band gap semimetal with a Dirac cone at the Gamma point when spin–orbit coupling is included. Optical measurements also confirm that the material has a zero band gap. The tunability of the composition and the topological insulating properties of the layers will enable the use of these materials for future electronics applications on an industrial scale.