Article Title

Te-seeded growth of few-quintuple layer Bi₂Te₃ nanoplates

Authors

Yanyuan Zhao, Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371
Maria de la Mata, Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB-CSIC, E-08193 Bellaterra, CAT, Spain
Richard L. J. Qiu, Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
Jun Zhang, Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371
Xinglin Wen, Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371
Cesar Magen, Laboratorio de Microscopías Avanzadas (LMA), Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragon (INA) -ARAID and Departamento de Fisica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Xuan P. A. Gao, Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
Jordi Arbiol, Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB-CSIC, E-08193 Bellaterra, CAT, Spain Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avanats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, CAT, Spain
Qihua Xiong, Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371 NOVITAS, Nanoelectronics Centre of Excellence, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798

Keywords

Te nucleation seed, epitaxial growth, Bi2Te3, few-quintuple layer, TEM cross-section, optical contrast

Abstract

We report on a Te-seeded epitaxial growth of ultrathin Bi2Te3 nanoplates (down to three quintuple layers (QL)) with large planar sizes (up to tens of micrometers) through vapor transport. Optical contrast has been systematically investigated for the as-grown Bi2Te3 nanoplates on the SiO2/Si substrates, experimentally and computationally. The high and distinct optical contrast provides a fast and convenient method for the thickness determination of few-QL Bi2Te3 nanoplates. By aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, a hexagonal crystalline structure has been identified for the Te seeds, which form naturally during the growth process and initiate an epitaxial growth of the rhombohedral- structured Bi2Te3 nanoplates. The epitaxial relationship between Te and Bi2Te3 is identified to be perfect along both in-plane and out-of-plane directions of the layered nanoplate. Similar growth mechanism might be expected for other bismuth chalcogenide layered materials.

Graphical Abstract

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0487-y

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

Recommended Citation

Yanyuan Zhao,Maria de la Mata,Richard L. J. Qiu,Jun Zhang,Xinglin Wen,Cesar Magen,Xuan P. A. Gao,Jordi Arbiol,Qihua Xiong, Te-seeded growth of few-quintuple layer Bi2Te3 nanoplates. NanoRes.2014, 7(9): 1243–1253