Thickness-dependent electronic band structure in MBE-grown hexagonal InTe films

Films of the hexagonal InTe with thicknesses from one to three tetralayers (TLs) were synthesized on the bilayer graphene/SiC by molecular beam epitaxy. Valence bands of the one- and two-TL-thick films were found to be flat-like near (Gamma) over bar point, but become parabolic for the three-TL-thick film and beyond. The band gap of the InTe was found to be equal to 2.1 eV for the single tetralayer and tends to reduce its size with thickness. The band structure calculations revealed a large spin splitting of the InTe single tetralayer lower conduction band with exclusive out-of-plane spin polarization. Bearing in mind inaccessibility of the hexagonal InTe in a bulk form, all above-mentioned findings open up a way for the further study of this perspective material.