Electronic structures of topological insulator Bi2Te3 surfaces with non-conventional terminations

Abstract

Topological insulators (TIs) are theoretically believed to possess robust surface states (SSs) for any surface terminations. In reality, for TIs with non-conventional terminations, the directly experimental demonstration of this argument is somehow hindered, due to the difficulties in sample preparation and lack of efficient electronic structure characterization method. Here, by using the state-of-the-art molecular beam epitaxy, we manage to prepare TI Bi2Te3 thin film with non-conventional fractional quintuple layer (FQL) termination. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that the as-grown Bi2Te3 thin film may not necessarily terminate at the van der Waals gap between two adjacent quintuple layers. The electronic structures of the FQL termination are studied in combination with quasi-particle interference pattern by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and SS calculations by tight binding method. Our results suggest that the topological nature of SSs be preserved on various terminations. Possible ways of achieving exotic topological SSs are also discussed.