Topological Insulator Nanowires and Nanoribbons

Desheng Kong, Jason C. Randel, Hailin Peng, Judy J. Cha, Stefan Meister, Keji Lai, Yulin Chen, Zhi-Xun Shen, Hari C. Manoharan, Yi Cui

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

304 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent theoretical calculations and photoemission spectroscopy measurements on the bulk Bi2Se3 material show that it is a three-dimensional topological insulator possessing conductive surface states with nondegenerate spins, attractive for dissipationless electronics and spintronics applications. Nanoscale topological insulator materials have a large surface-to-volume ratio that can manifest the conductive surface states and are promising candidates for devices. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of high quality single crystalline Bi2Se5 nanomaterials with a variety of morphologies. The synthesis of Bi 2Se5 nanowires and nanoribbons employs Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. Nanowires, which exhibit rough surfaces, are formed by stacking nanoplatelets along the axial direction of the wires. Nanoribbons are grown along [1120] direction with a rectangular cross-section and have diverse morphologies, including quasi-one-dimensional, sheetlike, zigzag and sawtooth shapes. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies on nanoribbons show atomically smooth surfaces with ∼ 1 nm step edges, indicating single Se-Bi-Se-Bi-Se quintuple layers. STM measurements reveal a honeycomb atomic lattice, suggesting that the STM tip couples not only to the top Se atomic layer, but also to the Bi atomic layer underneath, which opens up the possibility to investigate the contribution of different atomic orbitais to the topological surface states. Transport measurements of a single nanoribbon device (four terminal resistance and Hall resistance) show great promise for nanoribbons as candidates to study topological surface states. © 2010 American Chemical Society.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)329-333
Number of pages5
JournalNano Letters
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 13 2010
Externally publishedYes

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