Molecular Beam Epitaxy Of Antiferromagnetic (Mnbi2te4)(Bi2te3) Thin Films On Baf2 (111)

The layered van der Waals compounds (MnBi 2Te 4)(Bi 2Te 3) were recently established as the first intrinsic magnetic topological insulators. We report a study on the epitaxial growth of(MnBi 2Te 4 ) m(Bi 2Te 3 ) n films based on the co-deposition of MnTe andBi 2Te 3 onBaF 2 (111) substrates. X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy evidence the formation of multilayers of stackedMnBi 2Te 4 septuple layers andBi 2Te 3 quintuple layers with a predominance ofMnBi 2Te 4. The elemental composition and morphology of the films is further characterized by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. X-ray magnetic circular and linear dichroism spectra are comparable to those obtained forMnBi 2Te 4 single crystals and confirm antiferromagnetic order in the films.