Related papers: Expediting hydrogen evolution through topological …
Recently, topological quantum materials have emerged as a promising electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, most of their performance largely lags behind noble metals such as benchmark platinum (Pt). In this work, a…
We use real-time reflection high energy electron diffraction intensity oscillation to establish the Te-rich growth dynamics of topological insulator thin films of Bi2Te3 on Si(111) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. In situ angle resolved…
The surface orientation dependence on the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of topological crystalline insulator (TCI) SnTe thin films is studied. Their intrinsic activities are determined by linear sweep voltammetry and cyclic…
The dynamic reconstruction of surfaces during electrochemical reactions plays a crucial role in determining the performance of electrocatalysts. However, because reconstructions occur at the atomic level, direct observation and elucidation…
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has emerged as a promising, cost-effective catalyst for hydrogen production via water splitting. We investigate the structural and electrocatalytic properties of MoS2 thin films deposited on different substrates…
Topological insulator (TI) materials such as Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 have attracted strong recent interests. Large scale, high quality TI thin films are important for developing TI-based device applications. In this work, structural and…
Topological insulators (TIs) are exotic materials which have topologically protected states on the surface due to the strong spin-orbit coupling. However, a lack of ordered growth of TI thin films on amorphous dielectrics and/or insulators…
Three-dimensional (3-D) topological insulators (TI) are characterized by the presence of metallic surface states and a bulk band gap. Recently theoretical and experimental studies have shown an induced gap in the surface state bands of TI…
We have identified epitaxially grown elemental Te as a capping material that is suited to protect the topological surface states of intrinsically insulating Bi$_2$Te$_3$. By using angle-resolved photoemission, we were able to show that the…
This paper reviews recent developments in quantum transport and it presents recent efforts to explore the contribution of topological insulator boundary states to thermoelectricity in Bi$_2$Te$_3$ thin films. Although Bi$_2$Te$_3$ has been…
Bulk Bi2Te3 is known to be a topological insulator. We investigate surface states of Bi2Te3(111) thin films using density-functional theory including spin-orbit coupling. We construct a method to unambiguously identify surface states of…
Topological states of matter and their corresponding properties are classical research topics in condensed matter physics. Quite recently, the application of materials that feature these states has been extended to the field of…
Surface states of topological insulators (TIs) have been playing the central role in the majority of outstanding investigations in low-dimensional electron systems for more than 10 years. TIs based on high-quality strained HgTe films…
The naturally existing chalcogenide Bi2Se3 is topologically nontrivial due to the band inversion caused by strong spin-orbit coupling inside the bulk of the material. The surface states are spin polarized, protected by the time-inversion…
The ability to efficiently evolve hydrogen via electrocatalysis at low overpotentials holds tremendous promise for clean energy. Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can be easily achieved from water if a voltage above the thermodynamic…
The surface electronic properties of the important topological insulator Bi2Te3 are shown to be robust under an extended surface preparation procedure which includes exposure to atmosphere and subsequent cleaning and recrystallization by an…
Combining various two-dimensional materials into novel van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures has been shown to lead to new emergent quantum systems. A novel heterostructure composed of a vdW topological insulator (TI) such as…
Chemical activation of the intrinsically inert basal planes of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is crucial for developing high-efficiency electrocatalysts for energy technology applications. Here we report the discovery of an…
Highly crystalline and easily feasible topological insulator-superconductor (TI-SC) heterostructures are crucial for the development of practical topological qubit devices. The optimal superconducting layer for TI-SC heterostructures should…
Material defects remain as the main bottleneck to the progress of topological insulators (TIs). In particular, efforts to achieve thin TI samples with dominant surface transport have always led to increased defects and degraded mobilities,…