Determining the bulk and surface electronic structure of $α$-Sn/InSb(001) with spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (2403.01051v1)

Abstract: The surface and bulk states in topological materials have shown promise in many applications. Grey or $\alpha$-Sn, the inversion symmetric analogue to HgTe, can exhibit a variety of these phases. However there is disagreement in both calculation and experiment over the exact shape of the bulk bands and the number and origin of the surface states. Using spin- and angle-resolved photoemission we investigate the bulk and surface electronic structure of $\alpha$-Sn thin films on InSb(001) grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We find that there is no significant warping in the shapes of the bulk bands. We also observe the presence of only two surface states near the valence band maximum in both thin (13 bilayer) and thick (400 bilayer) films. In 50 bilayer films, these two surface states coexist with quantum well states. Surprisingly, both of these surface states are spin-polarized with orthogonal spin-momentum locking and opposite helicities. One of these states is the spin-polarized topological surface state and the other a spin resonance. Finally, the presence of another orthogonal spin-momentum locked topological surface state from a secondary band inversion is verified. Our work clarifies the electronic structure of $\alpha$-Sn(001) such that better control of the electronic properties can be achieved. In addition, the presence of two spin-polarized surface states near the valence band maximum has important ramifications for the use of $\alpha$-Sn in spintronics.