TY - JOUR
T1 - Spinodal Superlattices of Topological Insulators
AU - Usanmaz, Demet
AU - Nath, Pinku
AU - Toher, Cormac
AU - Plata, Jose Javier
AU - Friedrich, Rico
AU - Fornari, Marco
AU - Buongiorno Nardelli, Marco
AU - Curtarolo, Stefano
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge support by DOD-ONR (N00014-13-1-0635, N00014-15-1-2863, N00014-16-1-2326). The consortium AFLOW.org acknowledges Duke University, Center for Materials Genomics, for computational support. S.C. acknowledges the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for financial support. The authors thank Corey Oses, David Hicks, Eric Gossett, and Ohad Levy for helpful discussions.
Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge support by DOD-ONR (N00014-13-1-0635 N00014-15-1-2863, N00014-16-1-2326).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2018/4/10
Y1 - 2018/4/10
N2 - Spinodal decomposition is proposed for stabilizing self-assembled interfaces between topological insulators (TIs) by combining layers of iso-structural and iso-valent TlBiX2 (X = S, Se, Te) materials. The composition range for gapless states is addressed concurrently to the study of thermodynamically driven boundaries. By tailoring composition, the TlBiS2-TlBiTe2 system might produce both spinodal superlattices and two-dimensional eutectic microstructures, either concurrently or separately. The dimensions and topological nature of the metallic channels are determined by following the spatial distribution of the charge density and the spin-texture. The results validate the proof of concept for obtaining spontaneously forming two-dimensional TI-conducting channels embedded into three-dimensional insulating environments without any vacuum interfaces. Since spinodal decomposition is a controllable kinetic phenomenon, its leverage could become the long-sought enabler for effective TI technological deployment.
AB - Spinodal decomposition is proposed for stabilizing self-assembled interfaces between topological insulators (TIs) by combining layers of iso-structural and iso-valent TlBiX2 (X = S, Se, Te) materials. The composition range for gapless states is addressed concurrently to the study of thermodynamically driven boundaries. By tailoring composition, the TlBiS2-TlBiTe2 system might produce both spinodal superlattices and two-dimensional eutectic microstructures, either concurrently or separately. The dimensions and topological nature of the metallic channels are determined by following the spatial distribution of the charge density and the spin-texture. The results validate the proof of concept for obtaining spontaneously forming two-dimensional TI-conducting channels embedded into three-dimensional insulating environments without any vacuum interfaces. Since spinodal decomposition is a controllable kinetic phenomenon, its leverage could become the long-sought enabler for effective TI technological deployment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045045498&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b05299
DO - 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b05299
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85045045498
SN - 0897-4756
VL - 30
SP - 2331
EP - 2340
JO - Chemistry of Materials
JF - Chemistry of Materials
IS - 7
ER -