Atomic Force Microscopy Image of the Surface of a 40 nm Thick Bismuth Antimony Telluride Film Grown Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy on a Sapphire Crystal
Suresh Babu, Soorya
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114291
Description
Title
Atomic Force Microscopy Image of the Surface of a 40 nm Thick Bismuth Antimony Telluride Film Grown Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy on a Sapphire Crystal
Author(s)
Suresh Babu, Soorya
Issue Date
2022
Keyword(s)
Physics
Abstract
This material exhibits very interesting and distinct behavior in the bulk versus the surface, known as a topological material. In the bulk it behaves as an insulator but allows for conduction at its surface. This film will be used as the first step of device fabrication towards realizing a quantum bit, utilizing this anomalous behavior to protect the information. Bismuth antimony telluride has also been predicted to show the existence of Majorana fermions, an elusive particle that is also it's own antiparticle, first theorized in 1937. The triangular structures are known as screw dislocations, a type of growth defect. This film was grown by molecular beam epitaxy, a process where the material is deposited one atomic layer at a time, in an ultra high vacuum chamber using extremely pure source materials. By carefully controlling the process parameters, extremely flat single crystal films like these can be grown.
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