Solid state dewetting application for In/ (0001) Sb2Te3 2D layered semiconductor nanosystem formation

The (0001) surface of Sb2Te3 layered semiconductor crystal is used as a template for the formation of indium nanostructures by solid state dewetting (SSD). The initial surfaces for the SSD procedure obtained by cleavage have got perfect crystalline structure, both on a macro scale, according to low energy electron diffraction (LEED) data, and on a nanoscale according to scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies. Sb2Te3 samples were also characterized by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Thermally deposited indium in the SSD process forms on (0001) surface of Sb2Te3 self-organized ordered array of 0D nanostructures, due to the directing action of the surface relief, which is not smooth on a nanoscale. STM shows that the triangular shape and spatial arrangement of indium induced nanostructures are consistent with the surface lattice symmetry due to SSD processes. The scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals correlation between indium coverage and high quantity of DOS within the band gap of Sb2Te3. Copyright (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the XVIII International Freik Conference on Physics and Technology of Thin Films and Nanosystems (ICPTTFN-XVIII).