epitaxial thin films studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

In transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), intercalation of 3d-transition metal atoms has been widely studied due to the presence of magnetic phases with varied spin-ordering structures. Recently, the role of intercalation has been revisited in the lens of topological physics, as the ferromagnetic phase of 3d-transition metal intercalated Nb and Ta dichalcogenide (space group: P6₃22) have been predicted to host topological band crossing [1]. Within the intercalated TMD, Cr-intercalated niobium diselenide (Cr_xNbSe2) is one such example, which for x=1/3 the material develops a ferromagnetic ground-state [2]. In this work, we employed molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) to obtain highly ordered Cr_1/3NbSe₂ epitaxial thin-films. We focused on clarifying the electronic structure of the Cr_1/3NbSe₂ epitaxial thin-films via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). By comparing the result with the first principles band calculation, the role of Cr intercalation to the electronic structure and topological features of the material is investigated.

 

References

1. T. Inoshita et al. Phys. Rev. B 100, 121112 (2019).

2. N. M. Toporova et al. J. Alloys Compd. 848, 156534 (2020).