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Abstract

Rapid development of experimental techniques has enabled real time studies of solid–gas reactions at the level reaching the atomic scale. In the present paper, we focus on a combination of atomic resolution STEM/EDX, which visualizes the reaction zone, and near ambient pressure (NAP) XPS, which collects information for a surface layer of variable thickness under reaction conditions. We compare the behavior of two affined topological insulators, Bi₂Te₃ and Sb₂Te₃. We used a simple reaction with molecular oxygen occurring at 298 K, which is of practical importance to avoid material degradation. Despite certain limitations, a combination of in situ XPS and ex situ cross-sectional STEM/EDX allowed us to obtain a self-consistent picture of the solid–gas reaction mechanism for oxidation of Sb₂Te₃ and Bi₂Te₃ crystals, which includes component redistribution between the oxide and the subsurface layer and Te segregation with formation of a thin ordered layer at the interface. The process is multistep in case of both compounds. At the very beginning of the oxidation process the reactivity is determined by the energy benefit of the corresponding element–oxygen bond formation. Further in the oxidation process, the behavior of these two compounds becomes similar and features component redistribution between the oxide and the subsurface layer.