We demonstrate the growth of thin films of molybdenum ditelluride and molybdenum diselenide on sapphire substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. In situ structural and chemical analyses reveal stoichiometric layered film growth with atomically smooth surface morphologies. Film growth along the (001) direction is confirmed by X-ray diffraction, and the crystalline nature of growth in the 2H phase is evident from Raman spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy is used to confirm the layered film structure and hexagonal arrangement of surface atoms. Temperature-dependent electrical measurements show an insulating behavior that agrees well with a two-dimensional variable-range hopping model, suggesting that transport in these films is dominated by localized charge-carrier states.

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We report on low temperature transport studies of Bi2Te3 topological insulator thin films grown on Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface by molecular beam epitaxy. A sharp increase in the magnetoresistance with magnetic field at low temperature indicates the existence of weak anti-localization. The measured weak anti-localization effect agrees well with the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka model, and the extracted phase coherence length shows a power-law dependence with temperature indicating the existence of a two-dimensional system. An insulating ground state has also been observed at low temperature showing a logarithmic divergence of the resistance that appears to be the influence of electron-electron interaction in a two-dimensional system.

Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), vibrating sample magnetometry, and other physical property measurements are used to investigate the structure, morphology, magnetic, and magnetotransport properties of (001)-oriented Cr2Te3 thin films grown on Al2O3(0001) and Si(111)-(7×7) surfaces by molecular beam epitaxy. Streaky RHEED patterns indicate flat smooth film growth on both substrates. STM studies show the hexagonal arrangements of surface atoms. Determination of the lattice parameter from the atomically resolved STM image is consistent with the bulk crystal structures. Magnetic measurements show the film is ferromagnetic, having a Curie temperature of about 180 K, and a spin glass-like behavior was observed below 35 K. Magnetotransport measurements show the metallic nature of the film with a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy along the c-axis.

We have studied angle dependent magnetoresistance of Bi2Te3 thin film with field up to 9 T over 2–20 K temperatures. The perpendicular field magnetoresistance has been explained by the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka theory alone in a system with strong spin-orbit coupling, from which we have estimated the mean free path, the phase coherence length, and the spin-orbit relaxation time. We have obtained the out-of-plane spin-orbit relaxation time to be small and the in-plane spin-orbit relaxation time to be comparable to the momentum relaxation time. The estimation of these charge and spin transport parameters are useful for spintronics applications. For parallel field magnetoresistance, we have confirmed the presence of Zeeman effect which is otherwise suppressed in perpendicular field magnetoresistance due to strong spin-orbit coupling. The parallel field data have been explained using both the contributions from the Maekawa-Fukuyama localization theory for non-interacting electrons and Lee-Ramakrishnan theory of electron-electron interactions. The estimated Zeeman g-factor and the strength of Coulomb screening parameter agree well with the theory. Finally, the anisotropy in magnetoresistance with respect to angle has been described by the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka theory. This anisotropy can be used in anisotropic magnetic sensor applications.