Abstract
Bi 2 Te 3 has attracted attention due to its potential applications in the microfabrication of integrated thermoelectric devices. It is also interesting to study the metallization process of this compound. Metallic nanostructures were deposited by means of an electron gun evaporator in ultra high vacuum (UHV) conditions (10-8 Pa) on the freshly cleaved 0001 surface of the crystal Bi 2 Te 3. Measurements were conducted using the commercially available Omicron UHV scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) measurements were performed using current imaging tunneling spectroscopy (CITS), and subsequent calculation of the dI/dV maps. Metallic characteristics were observed on nickel islands since early stages of the growth. CITS and dI/dV maps showed distinct contrast between the substrate and metallic islands. Similar contrast was not observed in the case of titanium, most probably due to an intercalation process. Occurring of such a process was confirmed by the appearance of the superlattice structure.
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