Semimetallic Sn thin film grown on Nb-doped SrTiO₃

Jiun-Yu Chen^1*, N. Kawakami¹, Wan-Hsin Chen¹, Jhe-Jhih Lin¹, Bo-Sheng Kang¹, Chang-Tsan Lee¹, Chun-Liang Lin¹

¹Electrophysics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

* Presenter:Jiun-Yu Chen, email:jonas991432@gmail.com

The α form of Sn is a topological Dirac semimetal (TDS) with high electron mobility ¹. TDS is analogous to graphene, and moreover, TDS shows unusual electronic structures that are useful in developing next-generation electronic devices. In this study, we demonstrate the in-situ growth of Sn on an Nb-doped SrTiO3 (STO) in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber. By STM images we observe that Sn clusters are uniformly distributed on the surface. As the deposition time increases, the size of clusters becomes larger and can form flat islands when thickness is over-four-layers. We found out that the size and the shape of the clusters evolve into the form of flat island as the deposition proceeds. Our results can provide an understanding of the growth mechanism of semimetallic thin films on oxides, which is valuable for future applications.


Reference:
¹C.Z. Xu, et al. “Elemental Topological Dirac Semimetal: α-Sn on InSb(111) ,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 146402 (2017)

Keywords: cluster, Sn, semimetal