Heteroepitaxial Growth of InBi(001)

Abstract

InBi is a topological nodal line semimetal with strong spin–orbit coupling. It is epitaxially compatible with III–V semiconductors and, hence, an attractive material for topological spintronics. However, growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is challenging owing to the low melting point of InBi and the tendency to form droplets. We investigate approaches for epitaxial growth of InBi films on InSb(001) substrates using MBE and periodic supply epitaxy (PSE). It was not possible to achieve planar, stoichiometric InBi heteroepitaxy using MBE growth over the parameter space explored. However, pseudomorphic growth of ultra-thin InBi(001) layers could be achieved by PSE on InSb(001). A remarkable change to the in-plane epitaxial orientation is observed.

Keywords

• topological semimetal
• III–V semiconductor
• molecular beam epitaxy
• InBi
• InSb