Structural and Electrical Characterizations of Large-Scale Epitaxially Grown (Bi 1– x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 Topological Insulator
Abstract
Bi 1-x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 ternary compound has emerged as a promising topological insulator, displaying intrinsic quantum transport through its topological surface states. It exhibits highly insulating bulk characteristics and tunable Dirac carriers, leading to practical device applications.
However, its integration on industrial substrates for future applications remains difficult. Here, we report the growth of (Bi 1-x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 thin films on wafer-scale, industrial GaAs (111)A substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Structural characterizations demonstrate the singlecrystalline nature of (Bi 1-x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 thin films, characterized by a layered crystalline structure typical of van der Waals topological insulators, and chemical homogeneity. The influence of the Te flux during growth is found to be critical for preserving the crystalline quality. Angleresolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements confirm the presence of topologically protected surface states for all studied compositions, and reveal that the electronic structure depends on the Sb composition. Complementary temperature-dependent transport measurements indicate that electrical conduction arises from both the topological surface states and bulk channels. The correlation between both demonstrates that trivial bulk states still contribute significantly to conduction, even for the composition identified as structurally and electronically optimized.
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BibTeX
@article{fekraoui2026structural,
title = {{Structural and Electrical Characterizations of Large-Scale Epitaxially Grown (Bi 1– x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 Topological Insulator}},
author = {Salima Fekraoui and Léo Rubiola and Stoyan Michaël Vercruysse and Richard Monflier and Léo Bourdon and Maryam Dehaghani and Robin Cours and Mohamed Ali Khaled and Richard Daubriac and Leonardo Cancellara and Quentin Gravelier and Chiara Bigi and François Bertran and Alexandre Arnoult and Cécile Marcelot and Bénédicte Warot-Fonrose and Pier Francesco Fazzini and Corentin Durand and Sébastien Plissard},
journal = {Crystal Growth \& Design},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00219},
url = {https://laas.hal.science/hal-05774475v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Structural and Electrical Characterizations of Large-Scale Epitaxially Grown (Bi 1– x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 Topological Insulator
AU - Salima Fekraoui
AU - Léo Rubiola
AU - Stoyan Michaël Vercruysse
AU - Richard Monflier
AU - Léo Bourdon
AU - Maryam Dehaghani
AU - Robin Cours
AU - Mohamed Ali Khaled
AU - Richard Daubriac
AU - Leonardo Cancellara
AU - Quentin Gravelier
AU - Chiara Bigi
AU - François Bertran
AU - Alexandre Arnoult
AU - Cécile Marcelot
AU - Bénédicte Warot-Fonrose
AU - Pier Francesco Fazzini
AU - Corentin Durand
AU - Sébastien Plissard
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/22
JO - Crystal Growth & Design
DO - 10.1021/acs.cgd.6c00219
UR - https://laas.hal.science/hal-05774475v1
AB - Bi 1-x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 ternary compound has emerged as a promising topological insulator, displaying intrinsic quantum transport through its topological surface states. It exhibits highly insulating bulk characteristics and tunable Dirac carriers, leading to practical device applications. However, its integration on industrial substrates for future applications remains difficult. Here, we report the growth of (Bi 1-x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 thin films on wafer-scale, industrial GaAs (111)A substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Structural characterizations demonstrate the singlecrystalline nature of (Bi 1-x Sb x ) 2 Te 3 thin films, characterized by a layered crystalline structure typical of van der Waals topological insulators, and chemical homogeneity. The influence of the Te flux during growth is found to be critical for preserving the crystalline quality. Angleresolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements confirm the presence of topologically protected surface states for all studied compositions, and reveal that the electronic structure depends on the Sb composition. Complementary temperature-dependent transport measurements indicate that electrical conduction arises from both the topological surface states and bulk channels. The correlation between both demonstrates that trivial bulk states still contribute significantly to conduction, even for the composition identified as structurally and electronically optimized.
SN - 1528-7483
SN - 1528-7505
ER -