@article{MaCalvoWangetal.2015, author = {Ma, Eric Yue and Calvo, M. Reyes and Wang, Jing and Lian, Biao and M{\"u}hlbauer, Mathias and Br{\"u}ne, Christoph and Cui, Yong-Tao and Lai, Keji and Kundhikanjana, Worasom and Yang, Yongliang and Baenninger, Matthias and K{\"o}nig, Markus and Ames, Christopher and Buhmann, Hartmut and Leubner, Philipp and Molenkamp, Laurens W. and Zhang, Shou-Cheng and Goldhaber-Gordon, David and Kelly, Michael A. and Shen, Zhi-Xun}, title = {Unexpected edge conduction in mercury telluride quantum wells under broken time-reversal symmetry}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {6}, journal = {Nature Communications}, number = {7252}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms8252}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-143185}, year = {2015}, abstract = {The realization of quantum spin Hall effect in HgTe quantum wells is considered a milestone in the discovery of topological insulators. Quantum spin Hall states are predicted to allow current flow at the edges of an insulating bulk, as demonstrated in various experiments. A key prediction yet to be experimentally verified is the breakdown of the edge conduction under broken time-reversal symmetry. Here we first establish a systematic framework for the magnetic field dependence of electrostatically gated quantum spin Hall devices. We then study edge conduction of an inverted quantum well device under broken time-reversal symmetry using microwave impedance microscopy, and compare our findings to a noninverted device. At zero magnetic field, only the inverted device shows clear edge conduction in its local conductivity profile, consistent with theory. Surprisingly, the edge conduction persists up to 9 T with little change. This indicates physics beyond simple quantum spin Hall model, including material-specific properties and possibly many-body effects.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Muehlbauer2015, author = {M{\"u}hlbauer, Mathias Josef}, title = {Nanolithography on Mercury Telluride}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-137152}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Topological insulators belong to a new quantum state of matter that is currently one of the most recognized research fields in condensed matter physics. Strained bulk HgTe and HgTe/HgCdTe quantum well structures are currently one of few topological insulator material systems suitable to be studied in transport experiments. In addition HgTe quantum wells provide excellent requirements for the conduction of spintronic experiments. A fundamental requirement for most experiments, however, is to reliably pattern these heterostructures into advanced nano-devices. Nano-lithography on this material system proves to be challenging because of inherent temperature limitations, its high reactivity with various metals and due to its properties as a topological insulator. The current work gives an insight into why many established semiconductor lithography processes cannot be easily transferred to HgTe while providing alternative solutions. The presented developments include novel ohmic contacts, the prevention of metal sidewalls and redeposition fences in combination with low temperature (80 °C) lithography and an adapted hardmask lithography process utilizing a sacrificial layer. In addition we demonstrate high resolution low energy (2.5 kV) electron beam lithography and present an alternative airbridge gating technique. The feasibility of nano-structures on HgTe quantum wells is exemplarily verified in two separate transport experiments. We are first to realize physically etched quantum point contacts in HgTe/HgCdTe high mobility 2DEGs and to prove their controllability via external top-gate electrodes. So far quantum point contacts have not been reported in TI materials. However, these constrictions are part of many proposals to probe the nature of the helical quantum spin Hall edge channels and are suggested as injector and detector devices for spin polarized currents. To confirm their functionality we performed four-terminal measurements of the point contact conductance as a function of external gate voltage. Our measurements clearly exhibit quantized conductance steps in 2e2/h, which is a fundamental characteristic of quantum point contacts. Furthermore we conducted measurements on the formation and control of collimated electron beams, a key feature to realize an all electrical spin-optic device. In a second study several of the newly developed lithography techniques were implemented to produce arrays of nano-wires on inverted and non-inverted HgTe quantum well samples. These devices were used in order to probe and compare the weak antilocalization (WAL) in these structures as a function of magnetic field and temperature. Our measurements reveal that the WAL is almost an order of magnitude larger in inverted samples. This observation is attributed to the Dirac-like dispersion of the energy bands in HgTe quantum wells. The described lithography has already been successfully implemented and adapted in several published studies. All processes have been optimized to guarantee a minimum effect on the heterostructure's properties and the sample surface, which is especially important for probing the topological surface states of strained HgTe bulk layers. Our developments therefore serve as a base for continuous progress to further establish HgTe as a topological insulator and give access to new experiments.}, subject = {Topologischer Isolator}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ames2015, author = {Ames, Christopher}, title = {Molecular Beam Epitaxy of 2D and 3D HgTe, a Topological Insulator}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-151136}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2015}, abstract = {In the present thesis the MBE growth and sample characterization of HgTe structures is investigated and discussed. Due to the first experimental discovery of the quantum Spin Hall effect (QSHE) in HgTe quantum wells, this material system attains a huge interest in the spintronics society. Because of the long history of growing Hg-based heterostructures here at the Experimentelle Physik III in W{\"u}rzburg, there are very good requirements to analyze this material system more precisely and in new directions. Since in former days only doped HgTe quantum wells were grown, this thesis deals with the MBE growth in the (001) direction of undoped HgTe quantum wells, surface located quantum wells and three dimensional bulk layers. All Hg-based layers were grown on CdTe substrates which generate strain in the layer stack and provide therefore new physical effects. In the same time, the (001) CdTe growth was investigated on n-doped (001) GaAs:Si because the Japanese supplier of CdTe substrates had a supply bottleneck due to the Tohoku earthquake and its aftermath in 2011. After a short introduction of the material system, the experimental techniques were demonstrated and explained explicitly. After that, the experimental part of this thesis is displayed. So, the investigation of the (001) CdTe growth on (001) GaAs:Si is discussed in chapter 4. Firstly, the surface preparation of GaAs:Si by oxide desorption is explored and analyzed. Here, rapid thermal desorption of the GaAs oxide with following cool down in Zn atmosphere provides the best results for the CdTe due to small holes at the surface, while e.g. an atomic flat GaAs buffer deteriorates the CdTe growth quality. The following ZnTe layer supplies the (001) growth direction of the CdTe and exhibits best end results of the CdTe for 30 seconds growth time at a flux ratio of Zn/Te ~ 1/1.2. Without this ZnTe layer, CdTe will grow in the (111) direction. However, the main investigation is here the optimization of the MBE growth of CdTe. The substrate temperature, Cd/Te flux ratio and the growth time has to be adjusted systematically. Therefore, a complex growth process is developed and established. This optimized CdTe growth process results in a RMS roughness of around 2.5 nm and a FWHM value of the HRXRD w-scan of 150 arcsec. Compared to the literature, there is no lower FWHM value traceable for this growth direction. Furthermore, etch pit density measurements show that the surface crystallinity is matchable with the commercial CdTe substrates (around 1x10^4 cm^(-2)). However, this whole process is not completely perfect and offers still room for improvements. The growth of undoped HgTe quantum wells was also a new direction in research in contrast to the previous n-doped grown HgTe quantum wells. Here in chapter 5, the goal of very low carrier densities was achieved and therefore it is now possible to do transport experiments in the n - and p - region by tuning the gate voltage. To achieve this high sample quality, very precise growth of symmetric HgTe QWs and their HRXRD characterization is examined. Here, the quantum well thickness can now determined accurate to under 0.3 nm. Furthermore, the transport analysis of different quantum well thicknesses shows that the carrier density and mobility increase with rising HgTe layer thickness. However, it is found out that the band gap of the HgTe QW closes indirectly at a thickness of 11.6 nm. This is caused by the tensile strained growth on CdTe substrates. Moreover, surface quantum wells are studied. These quantum wells exhibit no or a very thin HgCdTe cap. Though, oxidization and contamination of the surface reduces here the carrier mobility immensely and a HgCdTe layer of around 5 nm provides the pleasing results for transport experiments with superconductors connected to the topological insulator [119]. A completely new achievement is the realization of MBE growth of HgTe quantum wells on CdTe/GaAs:Si substrates. This is attended by the optimization of the CdTe growth on GaAs:Si. It exposes that HgTe quantum wells grown in-situ on optimized CdTe/GaAs:Si show very nice transport data with clear Hall plateaus, SdH oscillations, low carrier densities and carrier mobilities up to 500 000 cm^2/Vs. Furthermore, a new oxide etching process is developed and analyzed which should serve as an alternative to the standard HCl process which generates volcano defects at some time. However, during the testing time the result does not differ in Nomarski, HRXRD, AFM and transport measurements. Here, long-time tests or etching and mounting in nitrogen atmosphere may provide new elaborate results. The main focus of this thesis is on the MBE growth and standard characterization of HgTe bulk layers and is discussed in chapter 6. Due to the tensile strained growth on lattice mismatched CdTe, HgTe bulk opens up a band gap of around 22 meV at the G-point and exhibits therefore its topological surface states. The analysis of surface condition, roughness, crystalline quality, carrier density and mobility via Nomarski, AFM, XPS, HRXRD and transport measurements is therefore included in this work. Layer thickness dependence of carrier density and mobility is identified for bulk layer grown directly on CdTe substrates. So, there is no clear correlation visible between HgTe layer thickness and carrier density or mobility. So, the carrier density is almost constant around 1x10^11 cm^(-2) at 0 V gate voltage. The carrier mobility of these bulk samples however scatters between 5 000 and 60 000 cm^2/Vs almost randomly. Further experiments should be made for a clearer understanding and therefore the avoidance of unusable bad samples.But, other topological insulator materials show much higher carrier densities and lower mobility values. For example, Bi2Se3 exhibits just density values around 1019 cm^(-2) and mobility values clearly below 5000 cm2/Vs. The carrier density however depends much on lithography and surface treatment after growth. Furthermore, the relaxation behavior and critical thickness of HgTe grown on CdTe is determined and is in very good agreement with theoretical prediction (d_c = 155 nm). The embedding of the HgTe bulk layer between HgCdTe layers created a further huge improvement. Similar to the quantum well structures the carrier mobility increases immensely while the carrier density levels at around 1x10^11 cm^(-2) at 0 V gate voltage as well. Additionally, the relaxation behavior and critical thickness of these barrier layers has to be determined. HgCdTe grown on commercial CdTe shows a behavior as predicted except the critical thickness which is slightly higher than expected (d_c = 850 nm). Otherwise, the relaxation of HgCdTe grown on CdTe/GaAs:Si occurs in two parts. The layer is fully strained up to 250 nm. Between 250 nm and 725 nm the HgCdTe film starts to relax randomly up to 10 \%. The relaxation behavior for thicknesses larger than 725 nm occurs than linearly to the inverse layer thickness. A explanation is given due to rough interface conditions and crystalline defects of the CdTe/GaAs:Si compared to the commercial CdTe substrate. HRXRD and AFM data support this statement. Another point is that the HgCdTe barriers protect the active HgTe layer and because of the high carrier mobilities the Hall measurements provide new transport data which have to be interpreted more in detail in the future. In addition, HgTe bulk samples show very interesting transport data by gating the sample from the top and the back. It is now possible to manipulate the carrier densities of the top and bottom surface states almost separately. The back gate consisting of the n-doped GaAs substrate and the thick insulating CdTe buffer can tune the carrier density for Delta(n) ~ 3x10^11 cm^(-2). This is sufficient to tune the Fermi energy from the p-type into the n-type region [138]. In this thesis it is shown that strained HgTe bulk layers exhibit superior transport data by embedding between HgCdTe barrier layers. The n-doped GaAs can here serve as a back gate. Furthermore, MBE growth of high crystalline, undoped HgTe quantum wells shows also new and extended transport output. Finally, it is notable that due to the investigated CdTe growth on GaAs the Hg-based heterostructure MBE growth is partially independent from commercial suppliers.}, subject = {Quecksilbertellurid}, language = {en} }