Bi
y
Sb2–y
Te3–x
Se
x
(BSTS)
topological insulator (TI) thin films were
grown by
physical vapor deposition (PVD) and molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and
compared by growth parameters, substrate selection, preparation, and
resulting film properties. For the MBE-grown BSTS on Si(111)-(7 ×
7), preliminary deposition of the Bi2Te3 buffer
layer at the Te-rich growth condition was found to improve the film
structural properties. Using a BSTS crystal as the main source for
deposition allows us to significantly decrease the molecular Te flux.
For the PVD growth, optimal conditions (gas flux, source, and substrate
temperatures) were found for a morphologically smooth BSTS film on
mica. In order to grow the epitaxial BSTS film on a Si/SiO2 substrate, graphene was successfully used as the pre-epitaxial layer.
A newly developed chemical preparation method of atomically clean
and structurally ordered epi-layer surfaces allowed us to study the
electronic structure of the grown TI films without using capping layers.
The surface states with Dirac-like dispersion at the Γ-point
in the surface Brillouin zone were detected by angle-resolved photoelectron
spectroscopy. Photoemission measurements showed a change in the surface
Fermi level position depending on the composition of BSTS films. The
magnetoconductivity data demonstrated a strong dependence of the parameters
describing a weak antilocalization on the substrate used.