DFT-Based Engineering of Dirac Surface Energy in Topological-Insulator Multilayers

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles simulations to engineer the Dirac surface states in topological insulator multilayers, aiming to optimize their properties for spintronics applications by tuning the surface work function.

Contribution

It demonstrates how material selection and heterostructure design can precisely tune the Dirac point energy and surface state characteristics in topological insulator multilayers.

Findings

Optimal Dirac surface state achieved in Bi2Te3/(Bi2Te2Se)4/Bi2Te3 heterostructure

Significant warping of Fermi lines observed in the ideal surface state

Both in-plane and out-of-plane spin polarization components emerge

Abstract

Aiming at the future spintronics device applications of the spin-polarized surface states in three-dimensional topological insulator, a highly insulating bulk state and a tunable Dirac cone surface state are required. Here we employ a slab model having hetero-structural Bi2Se3-related quintuple layers and perform first-principles simulations. Our computational results show that the Dirac-point energy can be optimally tuned by selecting an appropriate pair of materials so that the work function at the surface quintuple layer is slightly different from that at the inner quintuple layers. The ideal surface state is obtained in Bi2Te3/(Bi2Te2Se)4/Bi2Te3 slab, in which the Fermi lines show the significant warping effect and both the in-plane and the out-of-plane components of the spin polarization emerge.