Epitaxial growth of PbSe few-layers on SrTiO₃: The effect of compressive strain and potential two-dimensional topological crystalline insulator

The freestanding PbSe monolayer has been predicted as a candidate of the two-dimensional topological crystalline insulator, which possesses the Dirac-cone-like edge states resided at the edge. Up to now, however, direct experimental evidence of topological PbSe monolayer has not yet been reported. Here, we report the epitaxial growth and scanning tunneling microscopy study of few-layers PbSe islands grown on SrTiO₃ substrate. From the investigation of different thickness, we discover the release of compressive strain and the reduction of bandgap as the thickness becomes thick. Following detailed spectroscopic measurements, a signature of Dirac-like edge states is observed at the edge of seventh-layer PbSe. In conjunction with first-principle calculations, we find that compressive-strain-induced buckling adjusts the topological band inversion and eventually leads to a phase transition from nontrivial two-dimensional topological crystalline insulator to trivial insulator, which match well with our experimental observations. Therefore, both theoretical calculations and experimental observations reveal that the strain can effectively affect the property of epitaxial PbSe, meanwhile demonstrate seventh-layer PbSe as a potential candidate of 2D TCI.