Epitaxial growth of single tellurium atomic wires on a Cu₂Sb surface alloy

One-dimensional (1D) zigzag tellurium (Te) wires on an alloyed Cu₂Sb (111) surface are produced and characterized by combining molecular beam epitaxy and high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy, respectively. These 1D Te wires with zigzag shapes exhibit a uniform width and well-defined periodicity grown in registry on a Cu₂Sb (111) substrate. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed a remarkable bandgap of 0.3 eV induced by spin-orbit coupling. Interestingly, the resulting Te wires became metallic on the substrate, as confirmed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and DFT. The present study provides a platform for constructing periodic atomic wires on alloyed surfaces, which may be extended further to integrate them into circuits.