Sb2Se3 and SbBiSe3 Surface Capping and Biaxial Strain Co-Engineering for Tuning the Surface Electronic Properties of Bi2Se3 Nanosheet- A Density Functional Theory based Investigation

TL;DR

This study uses density functional theory to explore how surface capping and biaxial strain influence the electronic properties of Bi2Se3 nanosheets, revealing ways to tune their surface states for advanced electronic applications.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive DFT analysis of combined surface capping and strain effects on Bi2Se3 nanosheets' electronic properties.

Findings

Surface capping and strain can tune the surface electronic structure.

Spin-momentum locking is affected by electronic localization.

Hybridization of surface states can be controlled.

Abstract

In this work, for the first time, a density functional theory (DFT) based comprehensive theoretical study is performed on the surface electronic properties of Bi2Se3 nanosheet in the presence of a surface capping layer as well as mechanical strain. The study systematically introduces a biaxial compressive and tensile strain up to 5% in natural, Sb2Se3 surface capped, and SbBiSe3 surface capped Bi2Se3, and the subsequent effects on the electronic properties are assessed from the surface energy band (E-k) structure, the density of states (DOS), band edge energy and bandgap variations, surface conducting state localization, and Fermi surface spin-textures. The key findings of this work are systematically analyzed from conducting surface state hybridization through bulk in the presence of surface capping layers and applied biaxial strain. The result demonstrates that the interplay of surface capping and strain can simultaneously tune the surface electronic structure, spin-momentum locking results from change in electronic localization and interactions. In essence, this work presents an extensive theoretical and design-level insight into the surface capping and biaxial strain co-engineering in Bi2Se3, which can potentially facilitate different topological transport for modern optoelectronics, spintronics, valleytronics, bulk photovoltaics applications of engineered nanostructured topological materials in the future.