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Research Article | Open Access

Exploring potential for semiconductor to quantum anomalous Hall insulator transitions via substrate-induced structural modifications in Ti3Se4 monolayers

Zhipeng Song1,§, Haixia Cheng2,6,§, Yun Cao1, Qi Zheng1, Yurou Guan2, Chen Liu3, Jierui Huang1, Li Huang1, Jiaou Wang3, Hui Guo1, Guangchao Chen1, Chengmin Shen1, Shixuan Du1,4,5, Hongliang Lu1,5 (), Wei Ji2 (), Xiao Lin1,5 (), Hong-Jun Gao1,4,5
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials & Micro-Nano Devices, School of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan 523808, China
CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Material Digital R & D Center, China Iron & Steel Research Institute Group, Beijing 100081, China

§ Zhipeng Song and Haixia Cheng contributed equally to this work.

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Semiconductor materials hold the potential to transform into the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) materials by adjusting their lattice structure.

Abstract

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect in two-dimensional (2D) topological materials has attracted widespread attention due to its potential for dissipationless chiral edge transport without an external magnetic field, which is highly promising for low-power electronic applications. However, identifying materials that exhibit these properties remains particularly challenging, as only a limited number of such materials are known, raising the intriguing question of whether it is possible to induce the QAH effect in materials with ordinary properties through structural modifications. In this work, we grow an unreported 2D titanium selenide (Ti3Se4) on a Cu(111) substrate using molecular beam epitaxy. Low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy characterizations reveal a 7×7 brick-like structure. First-principles calculations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements confirm its composition to be Ti3Se4. Our calculations further demonstrate that monolayer Ti3Se4, in its grown form on Cu(111), has the potential to host the QAH effect. Interestingly, when we examine its freestanding form, the monolayer transitions from a QAH insulator candidate into a conventional semiconductor, despite only minor differences in their atomic structures. This transition enlightens us that subtle lattice adjustments can induce a transition from semiconductor to QAH properties in freestanding Ti3Se4. This discovery provides a potential route to engineering practical materials that may exhibit the QAH effect.

Keywords

quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effectmonolayer Ti3Se4structural modificationssemiconductormolecular beam epitaxy

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Nano Research
Volume 18 Issue 3,
March 2025
Article number: 94907123
DOI: 10.26599/NR.2025.94907123
Cite this article:
Song Z, Cheng H, Cao Y, et al. Exploring potential for semiconductor to quantum anomalous Hall insulator transitions via substrate-induced structural modifications in Ti3Se4 monolayers. Nano Research, 2025, 18(3): 94907123. https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907123
Topics:
Epitaxial growthMonolayersScanning tunneling microscopySemiconducting selenium compounds Titanium compounds
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