Nanoscale Probing of Local Electrical Characteristics on MBE-Grown Bi2Te3 Surfaces under Ambient Conditions

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• 作者：Rita J. Macedo ; Sara E. Harrison ; Tatiana S. Dorofeeva ; James S. Harris ; Richard A. Kiehl
• 刊名：Nano Letters
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：July 8, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：15
• 期：7
• 页码：4241-4247
• 全文大小：325K
• ISSN：1530-6992

文摘

The local electrical characteristics on the surface of MBE-grown Bi₂Te₃ are probed under ambient conditions by conductive atomic force microscopy. Nanoscale mapping reveals a 10鈥?00脳 enhancement in current at step-edges compared to that on terraces. Analysis of the local current鈥搗oltage characteristics indicates that the transport mechanism is similar for step-edges and terraces. Comparison of the results with those for control samples shows that the current enhancement is not a measurement artifact but instead is due to local differences in electronic properties. The likelihood of various possible mechanisms is discussed. The absence of enhancement at the step-edges for graphite terraces is consistent with the intriguing possibility that spin鈥搊rbit coupling and topological effects play a significant role in the step-edge current enhancement in Bi₂Te₃.