Nanomaterials and Crystals of Topological Insulators and Topological Crystalline Insulators

Abstract

Topological insulators (TIs) and topological crystal insulators (TCIs) are a new class of materials that exhibit exotic surface properties. It is thought that these properties are easier to detect if the materials have a high surface-area-to-volume-ratio. We present optimised growth methods to obtain high quality nanomaterials of a number of TCI materials, which have been grown from powdered bulk crystals using a vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) technique. Nanomaterials of SnTe, Pb1−xSnxTe and Pb1−xSnxSe have been produced and detailed characterisation of the bulk crystals and the nanomaterials through x-ray diffraction, microscopy techniques and EDX analysis are presented. Finally, UHV surface preparation techniques for SnTe microcrystals are presented. Such methods can be used to facilitate direct in-situ measurements of the band structure of TIs and TCIs using techniques such as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES).