Topological Insulator Thin Films and Heterostructures: Epitaxial Growth, Transport, and Magnetism

This chapter gives a comprehensive overview of the epitaxial growth of three dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TI) thin films and heterostructures, and focuses principally on the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of the chalcogenide-based 3D TIs and their transport properties. TI films can be grown by a variety of methods. While MBE has been used predominantly, pulsed laser deposition (PLD), metal organic vapor deposition (MOCVD), and vapor liquid solid (VLS) methods, among others, have been used. The chapter discusses some of the most common materials used in the epitaxial growth of TI thin films. While HgTe is a semimetal, strain can modify the band structure, opening a gap in the bulk bands and leading to it becoming a 3D TI. Heterostructures provide an alternative route to interface TIs with the broken TR symmetry created by proximal ferromagnetism.