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Title: From an atomic layer to the bulk: Low-temperature atomistic structure and ferroelectric and electronic properties of SnTe films

Abstract

SnTe hosts ferroelectricity that competes with its weak nontrivial band topology: in the high-symmetry rocksalt structure—in which its intrinsic electric dipole is quenched—this material develops metallic surface bands, but in its rhombic ground-state configuration—which hosts a nonzero spontaneous electric dipole—the crystalline symmetry is lowered, and the presence of surface electronic bands is not guaranteed. In this work, the type of ferroelectric coupling and the atomistic and electronic structure of SnTe films ranging from 2 to 40 atomic layers (ALs) are examined on freestanding samples, to which atomic layers were gradually added. Four-AL SnTe films are antiferroelectrically coupled, while thicker freestanding SnTe films are ferroelectrically coupled. The electronic band gap reduces its magnitude in going from 2 to 40 ALs, but it does not close due to the rhombic nature of the structure. Lastly, these results bridge the structure of SnTe films from the monolayer to the bulk.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)
  2. Max-Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle (Germany); Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing (China)
  3. singhua University, Beijing (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing (China)
  4. singhua University, Beijing (China); Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing (China); RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, Wako (Japan)
  5. Max-Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle (Germany)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
OSTI Identifier:
1508320
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1508431
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0016139
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review B
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 99; Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Antiferroelectricity; Electronic structure; Ferroelectricity; Spin-orbit coupling; Structural properties

Citation Formats

Kaloni, Thaneshwor P., Chang, Kai, Miller, Brandon J., Xue, Qi-Kun, Chen, Xi, Ji, Shuai-Hua, Parkin, Stuart S. P., and Barraza-Lopez, Salvador. From an atomic layer to the bulk: Low-temperature atomistic structure and ferroelectric and electronic properties of SnTe films. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.99.134108.
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Kaloni, Thaneshwor P., Chang, Kai, Miller, Brandon J., Xue, Qi-Kun, Chen, Xi, Ji, Shuai-Hua, Parkin, Stuart S. P., & Barraza-Lopez, Salvador. From an atomic layer to the bulk: Low-temperature atomistic structure and ferroelectric and electronic properties of SnTe films. United States. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.99.134108.
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Kaloni, Thaneshwor P., Chang, Kai, Miller, Brandon J., Xue, Qi-Kun, Chen, Xi, Ji, Shuai-Hua, Parkin, Stuart S. P., and Barraza-Lopez, Salvador. Tue . "From an atomic layer to the bulk: Low-temperature atomistic structure and ferroelectric and electronic properties of SnTe films". United States. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.99.134108.
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@article{osti_1508320,
title = {From an atomic layer to the bulk: Low-temperature atomistic structure and ferroelectric and electronic properties of SnTe films},
author = {Kaloni, Thaneshwor P. and Chang, Kai and Miller, Brandon J. and Xue, Qi-Kun and Chen, Xi and Ji, Shuai-Hua and Parkin, Stuart S. P. and Barraza-Lopez, Salvador},
abstractNote = {SnTe hosts ferroelectricity that competes with its weak nontrivial band topology: in the high-symmetry rocksalt structure—in which its intrinsic electric dipole is quenched—this material develops metallic surface bands, but in its rhombic ground-state configuration—which hosts a nonzero spontaneous electric dipole—the crystalline symmetry is lowered, and the presence of surface electronic bands is not guaranteed. In this work, the type of ferroelectric coupling and the atomistic and electronic structure of SnTe films ranging from 2 to 40 atomic layers (ALs) are examined on freestanding samples, to which atomic layers were gradually added. Four-AL SnTe films are antiferroelectrically coupled, while thicker freestanding SnTe films are ferroelectrically coupled. The electronic band gap reduces its magnitude in going from 2 to 40 ALs, but it does not close due to the rhombic nature of the structure. Lastly, these results bridge the structure of SnTe films from the monolayer to the bulk.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.99.134108},
journal = {Physical Review B},
number = 13,
volume = 99,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {4}
}
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Journal Article:
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This content will become publicly available on April 23, 2020
Publisher's Version of Record
DOI:  10.1103/PhysRevB.99.134108
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