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Nano Research 2015, 8(3): 967-979 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0578-9
Research Article | Issue | Published: 17 October 2014

Topological crystalline insulator nanomembrane with strain-tunable band gap

Show Author's Information Xiaofeng Qian1,  Liang Fu2( ),  Ju Li1( )
Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Department of Materials Science and EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusetts02139USA
Department of PhysicsMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusetts02139USA
Keywords:
DFT calculations, elastic strain engineering, pseudoheterostructure, infrared photodetector, metal-insulator transition
Cite this article:
Qian X, Fu L, Li J. Topological crystalline insulator nanomembrane with strain-tunable band gap. Nano Research, 2015, 8(3): 967-979. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0578-9
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Abstract Full text About this article

The ability to fine-tune band gap and band inversion in topological materials is highly desirable for the development of novel functional devices. Here we propose that the electronic properties of free-standing nanomembranes of the topological crystalline insulators (TCI) SnTe and Pb1-xSnx(Se, Te) are highly tunable by engineering elastic strain and membrane thickness, resulting in tunable band gap and giant piezoconductivity. Membrane thickness governs the hybridization of topological electronic states on opposite surfaces, while elastic strain can further modulate the hybridization strength by controlling the penetration length of surface states. We propose a frequency-resolved infrared photodetector using force-concentration induced inhomogeneous elastic strain in TCI nanomembranes with spatially varying width. The predicted tunable band gap accompanied by strong spin-textured electronic states will open new avenues for fabricating piezoresistive devices, infrared detectors and energy-efficient electronic and spintronic devices based on TCI nanomembrane.


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About this article

Topological crystalline insulator nanomembrane with strain-tunable band gap

Show Author's information Xiaofeng Qian1, Liang Fu2( ), Ju Li1( )
Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Department of Materials Science and EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusetts02139USA
Department of PhysicsMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusetts02139USA

Abstract

The ability to fine-tune band gap and band inversion in topological materials is highly desirable for the development of novel functional devices. Here we propose that the electronic properties of free-standing nanomembranes of the topological crystalline insulators (TCI) SnTe and Pb1-xSnx(Se, Te) are highly tunable by engineering elastic strain and membrane thickness, resulting in tunable band gap and giant piezoconductivity. Membrane thickness governs the hybridization of topological electronic states on opposite surfaces, while elastic strain can further modulate the hybridization strength by controlling the penetration length of surface states. We propose a frequency-resolved infrared photodetector using force-concentration induced inhomogeneous elastic strain in TCI nanomembranes with spatially varying width. The predicted tunable band gap accompanied by strong spin-textured electronic states will open new avenues for fabricating piezoresistive devices, infrared detectors and energy-efficient electronic and spintronic devices based on TCI nanomembrane.

Keywords: DFT calculations, elastic strain engineering, pseudoheterostructure, infrared photodetector, metal-insulator transition

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 10 May 2013
Revised: 31 August 2014
Accepted: 06 September 2014
Published: 17 October 2014
Issue date: March 2015

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) DMR-1120901 (X. Q. and J. L.) and U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Award DE-SC0010526 (L. F.). Computational time on the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) under grant numbers TG- DMR130038, TG-DMR140003, and TG-PHY140014 is gratefully acknowledged.

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