New Journal of Physics (Jan 2019)

Bi ultra-thin crystalline films on InAs(1 1 1)A and B substrates: a combined core-level and valence-band angle-resolved and dichroic photoemission study

  • L Nicolaï,
  • J-M Mariot,
  • U Djukic,
  • W Wang,
  • O Heckmann,
  • M C Richter,
  • J Kanski,
  • M Leandersson,
  • T Balasubramanian,
  • J Sadowski,
  • J Braun,
  • H Ebert,
  • I Vobornik,
  • J Fujii,
  • J Minár,
  • K Hricovini

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ab5c14
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 12
p. 123012

Abstract

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The growth of Bi on both the In-terminated (A) face and the As-terminated (B) face of InAs(1 1 1) has been investigated by low-energy electron diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy, and photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. The changes upon Bi deposition of the In 4 d and Bi 5 d _5/2 photoelectron signals allow to get a comprehensive picture of the Bi/InAs(1 1 1) interface. From the early stage the Bi growth on the A face is epitaxial, contrary to that on the B face that proceeds via the formation of islands. Angle-resolved photoelectron spectra show that the electronic structure of a Bi deposit of ≈10 bi-layers on the A face is identical to that of bulk Bi, while more than ≈30 bi-layers are needed for the B face. Both bulk and surface electronic states observed are well accounted for by fully relativistic ab initio calculations performed using the one-step model of photoemission. These calculations are used to analyse the dichroic photoemission data recorded in the vicinity of the Fermi level around the $\overline{{\rm{\Gamma }}}$ point of the Brillouin zone.

Keywords