Quasiparticle interference on the surface of Bi$_{\mathbf{2}}$Se$_{\mathbf{3}}$ terminated (PbSe)$_{\mathbf 5}$(Bi$_{\mathbf 2}$Se$_{\mathbf 3}$)$_{\mathbf 6}$

TL;DR

This study combines STM and DFT to analyze the surface electronic structure and quasiparticle interference patterns of a topological insulator compound, revealing Rashba-split bands and symmetry-related scattering features.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental and theoretical insights into the surface states and scattering mechanisms of a Bi2Se3-based topological insulator with unique surface termination.

Findings

Potential disorder is very low (~4 meV)

Reconstructed dispersion relation from QPI data

Scattering pattern reflects threefold symmetry of the potential

Abstract

Among the family of topological superconductors derived from {\BiSe}, $\mathrm{Cu}_x(\mathrm{PbSe})_{5}(\mathrm{Bi}_{2}\mathrm{Se}_{3})_{6}$ is unique in its surface termination of a single quintuple layer (QL) of the topological insulator (TI) \BiSe{} on an ordinary insulator PbSe. Here, we report a combined scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) characterization of the cleaved surface of the parent compound $(\mathrm{PbSe})_{5}(\mathrm{Bi}_{2}\mathrm{Se}_{3})_{6}$ (PSBS). Interestingly, the potential disorder due to the random distribution of native defects is only $\Gamma \sim 4~\mathrm{meV}$, comparable to the smallest reported for TIs. Performing high-resolution quasiparticle interference imaging (QPI) near the Fermi energy ($E-E_\mathrm{F} = -1~\mathrm{eV}~\mathrm{to}~0.6~\mathrm{eV}$) we reconstruct the dispersion relation of the dominant spectral feature and our ab initio calculations show that this surface feature originates from two bands with Rashba-like splitting due to strong spin-orbit coupling and inversion symmetry breaking. Moreover, only a small hexagonal distortion of the calculated Fermi surface is seen in the full momentum space distribution of the measured scattering data. Nevertheless, the scattering pattern at lower energies transforms into a flower-like shape with suppressed intensity along the $\overline{\Gamma \mathrm{K}}$ direction. We show that this effect is not due to the forbidden backscattering in the spin-momentum locked surface state in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ but reflects the threefold symmetry of the scattering potential.