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arXiv · 2605.07700

Epitaxial growth of beta-bismuthene on Sb2Te3

Giorgia Sementilli·Arslan Masood·Fabio Ronci·Stefano Colonna·Marilena Carbone·Marco Papagno·Ziya S. Aliev·Evgueni V. Chulkov·Sergey V. Eremeev·and Roberto Flammini
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Abstract

Over the past decades, two-dimensional crystals have attracted considerable interest as promising materials for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Among them, graphene analogs composed of heavy atoms occupy a particularly distinctive niche due to their enhanced spin-orbit interaction. Here, we present an epitaxial heterointerface formed by beta-bismuthene on Sb2Te3, a well-known three-dimensional topological insulator. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we systematically investigated the effects of Bi coverage and substrate temperature on nucleation processes, island morphology, and atomic structure. In addition, substrate-induced defects were identified throughout the bismuthene lattice.

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Giorgia Sementilli, Arslan Masood, Fabio Ronci, Stefano Colonna, Marilena Carbone, Marco Papagno, Ziya S. Aliev, Evgueni V. Chulkov, Sergey V. Eremeev, and Roberto Flammini. 2026-05-08. Epitaxial growth of beta-bismuthene on Sb2Te3. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.07700

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