Observation of surface oxidation resistant Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in Sb2SeTe2 topological insulator

The robustness of Sb2SeTe2 topological insulators against surface oxidation has been comparatively investigated through their magneto-transport and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic properties with samples freshly cleaved or exposed to air over various timeframes. The magnetoresistance data exhibit Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations with the same period of oscillations for all samples regardless of surface oxidation, whereas the core-level electron binding energies of the constituent elements vary. That there is no shift in Fermi levels and no smearing-out in the amplitude of oscillations suggests that the surface states of the studied topological insulators are impervious to surface oxidation.