Chemical (in)stability of an interface between metals and Bi[sub]2Se[sub]3 topological insulator

Our research is dedicated to a study of an interface between a Bi2Se3 topological insulator (TI) and various metals due to the essential need for providing a metal contact for devices. The main objective is to characterize structural and chemical properties at the interface, where the electronic properties of the TI can be affected. The structure of the interface and processes happening at it are investigated by microscopy (SEM, TEM, STM) and spectroscopy techniques (EDX, XPS). The research started with the noble metals: Ag, Au and Pt. A good stability was observed for Au and Pt, whereas Ag reacted with Bi2Se3 already at room temperature, producing Ag2Se and AgBiSe2 phase. Interface stability was also checked at high temperature and results showed that the Au coating undergoes a coalescence process starting from 100 °C whereas the interface with Pt does not show any change at least up to 350 °C. At present we are focused on the interface with Ti, a metal which is regularly used as an adhesive layer in electrical contacts. At low coverage (