Abstract
Monoclinic-distorted SnTe(001) topological crystalline insulator layers with a strain large enough to open the energy gap in the metallic Dirac-like spectrum of surface states were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and crystallographically analyzed.
Highlights
There is no significant difference in the defect concentrations in the CdTe and SnTe layers between the directions horizontal and vertical to the sample surface, which is denoted by the fact that the analysis of the RC FWHM of asymmetrical reflections (À1À15 for CdTe and À2À26 for SnTe) supplied similar results to those obtained for the 004 reflections
The results of our studies show that in the molecular beam epitaxial (MBE)-grown SnTe/ CdTe(001) heterostructures the rock-salt SnTe layer and the zinc blende CdTe buffer undergo a tetragonal crystal distortion, almost fully relaxed by the formation of misfit dislocations at the interfaces
The relaxation of the materials constituting the investigated heterostructures is almost complete – only some residual thermal strain in SnTe and small negative strain in CdTe occur, which is probably caused by the bilateral compression of CdTe between GaAs and SnTe
Summary
The topological properties of a crystalline material, fulfilling other indispensable criteria, such as electronic band inversion in given points of a Brillouin zone and strong spin orbit coupling, are governed by symmetry. In SnTe rock-salt cubic crystals the topological states exist on specific crystal facets, including important highest symmetry surfaces {100}, {110}, and {111}, with a key topological role of {110} mirrorplane symmetry.[3–14]. In the specific case of SnTe it Paper. Journal of Materials Chemistry C is largely known both from theoretical modelling[16,17] and from experiment.[18]. Theoretical analysis of the influence of crystal lattice distortions of various symmetries is shown, e.g. in the seminal paper by M. There have been experimental observations of distortion-induced opening of the gap in metallic topological surface states – all important for the electrical and infrared optoelectronic properties of SnTe and SnSe-based materials.[8,9,20]
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