Study of III-V alloys containing bismuth as potential candidates for new three-dimensional topological insulators

The design is based on the recent concept of predicting the phase of the topological insulator (TI) in semiconductors of the III-V group with Bi impurities with a concentration higher than 19%. So far, only low concentrations of Bi have been studied, which drastically reduce the bandwidth of the banned energies, making this alloy one of the most promising materials for light sources, fiber optic detectors and solar cells. Successful demonstration of the TI phase in GaAsBi would lead to the introduction of Group III-V semiconductor-based systems as new platforms with promising prospects for integrated spintronics and low-power electronics. Compared to chalcogenide TIs, this class of alloys promises greater potential for conductivity purely through topological surface conditions due to the suppression of bulk conductivity due to the wide band of forbidden energies in the host material. We propose: (i) finding optimal parameters for homogeneous incorporation of larger amounts of Bi into GaAs. (ii) apply various techniques for the characterization of structural and chemical properties, as well as for the study of the electron band structure, including direct investigation of the TI phase.