McCauley, M., Ansari, L., Gity, F. et al. (8 more authors) (2025) Investigation of hybrid plasmons in a highly crystalline Bi2Se3/C60 heterostructure using low-loss electron energy loss spectroscopy. communications materials, 6. 166. ISSN: 2662-4443
Abstract
Topological Insulators (TIs) present an interesting materials platform for nanoscale, high frequency devices because they support high mobility, low scattering electronic transport within confined surface states. However, a robust methodology to control the properties of surface plasmons in TIs has yet to be developed. Surface doping of TIs with molecules may provide tunable control of the two-dimensional plasmons in Bi<inf>2</inf>Se<inf>3</inf>, but exploration of such heterostructures is still at an early stage and usually confined to monolayers. We have grown heterostructures of Bi<inf>2</inf>Se<inf>3</inf>/C<inf>60</inf> with exceptional crystallinity. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) reveals significant hybridisation of π states at the interface, despite the expectation for only weak van der Waals interactions, including quenching of 2D plasmons. Momentum-resolved EELS measurements are used to probe the plasmon dispersion, with Density Functional Theory predictions providing an interpretation of results based on interfacial charge dipoles. This work provides growth methodology and characterization of highly crystalline TI/molecular interfaces that can be engineered for plasmonic applications in energy, communications and sensing. (Figure presented.)
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Aug 2025 14:32 |
Last Modified: | 06 Aug 2025 14:32 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s43246-025-00886-0 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:230058 |