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arXiv · 1906.01901

Temperature driven phase transition at the antimonene/Bi2Se3 van der Waals heterostructure

Conor Hogan·Kris Holtgrewe·Fabio Ronci·Stefano Colonna·Simone Sanna·Paolo Moras·Polina Sheverdyaeva·Sanjoy Mahatha·Marco Papagno·Ziya S. Aliev·Mohammad B. Babanly·Evgeni V. Chulkov·Carlo Carbone·Roberto Flammini
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Abstract

We report the discovery of a temperature induced phase transition between the \alpha and \beta structures of antimonene. When antimony is deposited at room temperature on bismuth selenide, it forms domains of \alpha-antimonene having different orientations with respect to the substrate. During a mild annealing, the \beta phase grows and prevails over the \alpha phase, eventually forming a single domain that perfectly matches the surface lattice structure of bismuth selenide. First principles thermodynamics calculations of this van der Waals heterostructure explain the different temperature-dependent stability of the two phases and reveal a minimum energy transition path. Although the formation energies of free-standing \alpha- and \beta-antimonene only slightly differ, the \beta phase is ultimately favoured in the annealed heterostructure due to an increased interaction with the substrate mediated by the perfect lattice match.

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Conor Hogan, Kris Holtgrewe, Fabio Ronci, Stefano Colonna, Simone Sanna, Paolo Moras, Polina Sheverdyaeva, Sanjoy Mahatha, Marco Papagno, Ziya S. Aliev, Mohammad B. Babanly, Evgeni V. Chulkov, Carlo Carbone, Roberto Flammini. 2019-06-05. Temperature driven phase transition at the antimonene/Bi2Se3 van der Waals heterostructure. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b04377

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