First principles calculations of the two dimensional topological insulator stanene on substrates

ORAL

Abstract

Topological insulators are a class of materials under continued intense investigation due to their potentially robust current carrying surface or edge states. Stanene, the two dimensional form of tin, has been predicted to be a 2D topological insulator due to its large spin-orbit interaction. There exist a number of first principles calculations of stanene both as an isolated layer as well as on a substrate, but the only successful experimental report involves the growth of stanene on Bi$_2$Te$_3$, and does not show signatures of topological behavior.* In this work, we present first-principles density functional theory calculations of stanene on a Bi$_2$Te$_3$ substrate and report on the binding, interfacial structure, and role of various decorating groups ({\it i.e.}, atoms or molecules binding to stanene). In addition, we will describe the possible benefits of using wide gap insulators such as CdTe as substrates.\\ $^*$F. Zhu, W. Chen, Y. Xu, C. Gao, D. Guan, C. Liu, D. Qian, S.-C. Zhang, and J. Jia, {\it Nat.\ Mater.}\ (2015).

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Authors

  • Stephen Eltinge

    Department of Physics, Yale University, Yale University

  • Minjung Kim

    Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Yale University

  • Stephen Albright

    Department of Physics, Yale University, Department of Physics and Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP), Yale University, Yale University

  • Rui Peng

    Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Department of Applied Physics and CRISP, Yale University

  • Ke Zou

    Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Department of Applied Physics and CRISP, Yale University, Dept. of Appl. Phys. and CRISP, Yale Univ., Yale University

  • Frederick Walker

    Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Yale Univ, Department of Applied Physics and CRISP, Yale University, Yale University

  • Charles Ahn

    Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Yale Univ, Department of Applied Physics and CRISP, Yale University, Yale University

  • Sohrab Ismail-Beigi

    Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena and Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Yale Univ, Yale University