Structural, electronic, ferroelectric, and topological properties of SnTe from atomic layer to bulk*

In this talk, motivated from the recent experiment [1] and theory [2,3,4], I will discuss the structural parameters, elastic energy barrier, electronic structure, and electric polarization for 2 to 40 atomic layers (ALs) of SnTe thin films, as obtained from DFT calculations. At 40 ALs, SnTe films transit from semiconductor to a topological phase, with an in-plane electric polarization vanishing. The AB phase found to be stable up to 6 atomic layers and AA phase takes over thereafter. In this talk, I will also present simulated and experimental STM images of 2 AL SnTe films with/without defects.
References
[1] K. Chang, et al., Science 353, 274 (2016).
[2] M. Mehboudi, et al., Nano Lett. 16, 1704 (2016).
[3] M. Mehboudi, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 246802 (2016).
[4] S. Barraza-Lopez, et al., arXiv:1709.04581.