Micro-Raman spectroscopy of mechanically exfoliated few-quintuple layers of Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, and Sb2Te3 materials

Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) and related compounds have recently attracted strong interest, owing to the discovery of the topological insulator properties in many members of this family of materials. The few-quintuple films of these materials are particularly interesting from the physics point of view. We report results of the micro-Raman spectroscopy study of the "graphene-like" exfoliated few-quintuple layers of Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, and Sb2Te3. It is found that crystal symmetry breaking in few-quintuple films results in appearance of A(1u)-symmetry Raman peaks, which are not active in the bulk crystals. The scattering spectra measured under the 633-nm wavelength excitation reveals a number of resonant features, which could be used for analysis of the electronic and phonon processes in these materials. In order to elucidate the influence of substrates on the few-quintuple-thick topological insulators, we examined the Raman spectra of these films placed on mica, sapphire, and hafnium-oxide substrates. The obtained results help to understand the physical mechanisms of Raman scattering in the few-quintuple-thick films and can be used for nanometrology of topological insulator films on various substrates. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3690913]