Chemical Instability of an Interface between Silver and Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator at Room Temperature

Understanding an interaction at an interface between a topological insulator and a metal is of critical importance when designing electronic and spintronic devices or when such systems are used in catalysis. In this paper, we report on a chemical instability of the interface between Bi2Se3 and Ag studied by X-ray powder diffraction and electron microscopy. We present strong experimental evidence of a redox solid-state reaction occurring at the interface with kinetics that is significant already at room temperature. The reaction yields Ag2Se, AgBiSe2, and Bi. The unexpected room-temperature chemical instability of the interface should be considered for all future theoretical and applicative studies involving the interface between Bi2Se3 and Ag.