Abstract
The incorporation of dilute concentrations of bismuth (Bi) into traditional III-V alloys leads to a significant reduction in bandgap energy, making InSbBi a promising candidate for long-wavelength (<0.17 eV) infrared photosensors. InSbBi offers potential as a platform for exploring spin dynamics and quantum phenomena due to its strong spin-orbit coupling. Despite this promise, the material quality of InSbBi alloys remains inferior to that of conventional III-V semiconductors, primarily due to the substantial challenges associated with incorporating Bi into InSb and producing high-quality InSbBi with varying Bi compositions. In this study, we address these issues by developing a molecular beam epitaxy approach to grow smooth InSbBi thin films with tunable Bi incorporation up to 1.8% of the group V sublattice, through dynamic adjustment of Sb flux and careful control of the interplay between growth temperature and the Bi flux. This work paves way for the development of high-quality InSbBi thin films for applications in photodetection, spintronics, and related quantum technologies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 052701 |
| Journal | Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, Part A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2025 |
Funding
This work was supported by the Science Alliance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, through the Support for Affiliated Research Teams (StART) program. Structural characterizations were carried out as part of a user project at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. P.A. acknowledges support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, for the material growth efforts.