The growth of bismuth on Bi$_2$Se$_3$ and the stability of the first bilayer

TL;DR

This study investigates the growth, structure, and stability of bismuth bilayers on Bi$_2$Se$_3$ surfaces, revealing the stability of the first bilayer and the conditions for desorption and surface restoration.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental insights into the atomic structure and stability of Bi bilayers on Bi$_2$Se$_3$, highlighting the unique stability of the first bilayer.

Findings

The first Bi bilayer matches the substrate lattice and is highly stable.

Additional Bi bilayers are incommensurate and form islands upon annealing.

Excess Bi desorbs at 490°C, restoring the original surface.

Abstract

Bi(0001) films with thicknesses up to several bilayers (BLs) are grown on Se-terminated Bi$_2$Se$_3$(0001) surfaces, and low energy electron diffraction (LEED), low energy ion scattering (LEIS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to investigate the surface composition, topography and atomic structure. For a single deposited Bi BL, the lattice constant matches that of the substrate and the Bi atoms adjacent to the uppermost Se atoms are located at fcc-like sites. When a 2nd Bi bilayer is deposited, it is incommensurate with the substrate. As the thickness of the deposited Bi film increases further, the lattice parameter evolves to that of bulk Bi(0001). After annealing a multiple BL film at 120{\deg}C, the first commensurate Bi BL remains intact, but the additional BLs aggregate to form thicker islands of Bi. These results show that a single Bi BL on Bi$_2$Se$_3$ is a particularly stable structure. After annealing to 490{\deg}C, all of the excess Bi desorbs and the Se-terminated Bi$_2$Se$_3$ surface is restored.