Phase transition-induced superstructures of β-Sn films with atomic-scale thickness

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/ac11e8

中国物理B ›› 2021, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (9): 96804-096804.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ac11e8

Phase transition-induced superstructures of β-Sn films with atomic-scale thickness

Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials&Micro-nano Devices, Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China

收稿日期:2021-05-13 修回日期:2021-06-09 接受日期:2021-07-07 出版日期:2021-08-19 发布日期:2021-08-30
通讯作者: Zhihai Cheng E-mail:zhihaicheng@ruc.edu.cn
基金资助:
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61674045, 61911540074, and 21622304), the Fund from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2016YFA0200700), the Strategic Priority Research Program and Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences (Chinese Academy of Sciences) (Grant Nos. XDB30000000 and QYZDB-SSW-SYS031). Zhihai Cheng was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China (Grant No. 21XNLG27).

Phase transition-induced superstructures of β-Sn films with atomic-scale thickness

Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials&Micro-nano Devices, Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China

Received:2021-05-13 Revised:2021-06-09 Accepted:2021-07-07 Online:2021-08-19 Published:2021-08-30
Contact: Zhihai Cheng E-mail:zhihaicheng@ruc.edu.cn
Supported by:
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61674045, 61911540074, and 21622304), the Fund from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2016YFA0200700), the Strategic Priority Research Program and Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences (Chinese Academy of Sciences) (Grant Nos. XDB30000000 and QYZDB-SSW-SYS031). Zhihai Cheng was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China (Grant No. 21XNLG27).

1. 2021-096804-SI.pdf(878KB)

摘要/Abstract

摘要： The ultrathin β-Sn(001) films have attracted tremendous attention owing to its topological superconductivity (TSC), which hosts Majorana bound state (MBSs) for quantum computation. Recently, β-Sn(001) thin films have been successfully fabricated via phase transition engineering. However, the understanding of structural phase transition of β-Sn(001) thin films is still elusive. Here, we report the direct growth of ultrathin β-Sn(001) films epitaxially on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate and the characterization of intricate structural-transition-induced superstructures. The morphology was obtained by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), indicating a structure-related bilayer-by-bilayer growth mode. The ultrathin β-Sn film was made of multiple domains with various superstructures. Both high-symmetric and distorted superstructures were observed in the atomic-resolution STM images of these domains. The formation mechanism of these superstructures was further discussed based on the structural phase transition of β to α-Sn at the atomic-scale thickness. Our work not only brings a deep understanding of the structural phase transition of Sn film at the two-dimensional limit, but also paves a way to investigate their structure-sensitive topological properties.

关键词: epitaxial growth, β-Sn films, bilayer-by-bilayer, superstructures, structural transition, scanning tunneling microscopy, surface energy

Abstract: The ultrathin β-Sn(001) films have attracted tremendous attention owing to its topological superconductivity (TSC), which hosts Majorana bound state (MBSs) for quantum computation. Recently, β-Sn(001) thin films have been successfully fabricated via phase transition engineering. However, the understanding of structural phase transition of β-Sn(001) thin films is still elusive. Here, we report the direct growth of ultrathin β-Sn(001) films epitaxially on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate and the characterization of intricate structural-transition-induced superstructures. The morphology was obtained by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), indicating a structure-related bilayer-by-bilayer growth mode. The ultrathin β-Sn film was made of multiple domains with various superstructures. Both high-symmetric and distorted superstructures were observed in the atomic-resolution STM images of these domains. The formation mechanism of these superstructures was further discussed based on the structural phase transition of β to α-Sn at the atomic-scale thickness. Our work not only brings a deep understanding of the structural phase transition of Sn film at the two-dimensional limit, but also paves a way to investigate their structure-sensitive topological properties.

Key words: epitaxial growth, β-Sn films, bilayer-by-bilayer, superstructures, structural transition, scanning tunneling microscopy, surface energy

中图分类号: (Microscopy of surfaces, interfaces, and thin films)

68.37.-d

68.55.-a (Thin film structure and morphology) 68.37.Ef (Scanning tunneling microscopy (including chemistry induced with STM)) 68.65.Cd (Superlattices)

Le Lei(雷乐), Feiyue Cao(曹飞跃), Shuya Xing(邢淑雅), Haoyu Dong(董皓宇), Jianfeng Guo(郭剑锋), Shangzhi Gu(顾尚志), Yanyan Geng(耿燕燕), Shuo Mi(米烁), Hanxiang Wu(吴翰翔), Fei Pang(庞斐), Rui Xu(许瑞), Wei Ji(季威), and Zhihai Cheng(程志海). Phase transition-induced superstructures of β-Sn films with atomic-scale thickness[J]. 中国物理B, 2021, 30(9): 96804-096804.

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Phase transition-induced superstructures of β-Sn films with atomic-scale thickness

Phase transition-induced superstructures of β-Sn films with atomic-scale thickness

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