Topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ thin films grown on hexagonal BN flakes

Thin films of the topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ were grown on hexagonal BN (hBN) sub-mm sized flakes using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The films were approximately 10 nm thick. topography of the films was imaged using atomic force microscopy and their structure was analyzed with x-ray diffraction using a laboratory rotating anode source with a lateral resolution of approximately 100 μm. X-ray diffraction data showed that the films were highly oriented on the hBN flakes, and their thickness could be measured from the observed thin film interference pattern around the Bragg peaks. Post-growth annealing seemed to improve the film quality. The possibility of using these films to create localized Dirac fermion states using scanning tunneling microscopy will be discussed.