Atomically Abrupt Topological p–n Junction

Kim, Sung Hwan; Jin, Kyung-Hwan; Kho, Byung Woo; Park, Byeong-Gyu; Liu, Feng; Kim, Jun Sung; Yeom, Han Woong

doi:10.1021/acsnano.7b03880

Atomically Abrupt Topological p–n Junction

Journal Article · Mon Aug 21 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · ACS Nano

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b03880· OSTI ID:1487451

Kim, Sung Hwan ^[1]; Jin, Kyung-Hwan ^[2]; Kho, Byung Woo ^[3]; Park, Byeong-Gyu ^[4]; ^[5]; Kim, Jun Sung ^[3]; ^[1]

Inst. for Basic Science, Pohang (Korea, Republic of); Pohang Univ. of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (Korea, Republic of)
Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
Pohang Univ. of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Physics
Pohang Univ. of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (Korea, Republic of). Pohang Accelerator Lab.
Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing (China)

Topological insulators (TI’s) are a new class of quantum matter with extraordinary surface electronic states, which bear great potential for spintronics and error-tolerant quantum computing. In order to put a TI into any practical use, these materials need to be fabricated into devices whose basic units are often p–n junctions. Interesting electronic properties of a ‘topological’ p–n junction were proposed theoretically such as the junction electronic state and the spin rectification. However, the fabrication of a lateral topological p–n junction has been challenging because of materials, process, and fundamental reasons. Here, we demonstrate an innovative approach to realize a p–n junction of topological surface states (TSS’s) of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) with an atomically abrupt interface. When a ultrathin Sb film is grown on a 3D TI of Bi₂Se₃ with a typical n-type TSS, the surface develops a strongly p-type TSS through the substantial hybridization between the 2D Sb film and the Bi₂Se₃ surface. Thus, the Bi₂Se₃ surface covered partially with Sb films bifurcates into areas of n- and p-type TSS’s as separated by atomic step edges with a lateral electronic junction of as short as 2 nm. This approach opens a different avenue toward various electronic and spintronic devices based on well-defined topological p–n junctions with the scalability down to atomic dimensions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-04ER46148

OSTI ID:: 1487451

Journal Information:: ACS Nano, Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 11; ISSN 1936-0851

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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