Fermi-level pinning, charge transfer, and relaxation of spin-momentum locking at metal contacts to topological insulators

Spataru, Catalin D.; Léonard, François

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.90.085115

Title: Fermi-level pinning, charge transfer, and relaxation of spin-momentum locking at metal contacts to topological insulators

Journal Article · Wed Aug 13 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.085115· OSTI ID:1146010

Spataru, Catalin D. ^[1]; Léonard, François ^[1]

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

Topological insulators are of interest for many applications in electronics and optoelectronics, but harnessing their unique properties requires detailed understanding and control of charge injection at electrical contacts. Here we present large-scale ab initio calculations of the electronic properties of Au, Ni, Pt, Pd, and graphene contacts to Bi₂Se₃. We show that regardless of the metal, the Fermi level is located in the conduction band, leading to n-type Ohmic contact to the first quintuplet. Furthermore, we find strong charge transfer and band-bending in the first few quintuplets, with no Schottky barrier for charge injection even when the topoplogical insulator is undoped. Our calculations indicate that Au and graphene leave the spin-momentum locking mostly unaltered, but on the other hand, Ni, Pd, and Pt strongly hybridize with Bi₂Se₃ and relax spin-momentum locking. In conclusion, our results indicate that judicious choice of the contact metal is essential to reveal the unique surface features of topological insulators.

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Research Organization:: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000; N0001413IP20091; AC01-94-AL85000; DEAC01-94-AL85000

OSTI ID:: 1146010

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1179988

Report Number(s):: SAND2014-4426J; PRBMDO; 519438

Journal Information:: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 90, Issue 8; ISSN 1098-0121

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 43 works

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Atomistic study of an ideal metal/thermoelectric contact: The full-Heusler/half-Heusler interface Spataru, Catalin D.; He, Yuping; Léonard, François APL Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5052271	journal	January 2019
High-Efficiency Thin-Film Superlattice Thermoelectric Cooler Modules Enabled by Low Resistivity Contacts He, Yuping; Léonard, François; Medlin, Douglas L. Advanced Electronic Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.201700381	journal	January 2018
Facile synthesis of high-crystalline Bi2Se3 nanoribbons without Se vacancies and their properties Yan, Hui; Lin, Sai; Zhang, Rukang Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 55, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-04354-7	journal	January 2020
Millimetre-long transport of photogenerated carriers in topological insulators Hou, Yasen; Wang, Rui; Xiao, Rui Nature Communications, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13711-3	journal	December 2019
Atomistic study of an ideal metal/thermoelectric contact: the full-Heusler/half-Heusler interface Spataru, Catalin D.; He, Yuping; Léonard, François arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1812.07189	text	January 2018

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Title: Fermi-level pinning, charge transfer, and relaxation of spin-momentum locking at metal contacts to topological insulators

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