Solution to the Hole-Doping Problem and Tunable Quantum Hall Effect in Bi₂Se₃ Thin Films

Bi₂Se₃, one of the most widely studied topological insulators (TIs), is naturally electron-doped due to n-type native defects. However, many years of efforts to achieve p-type Bi₂Se₃ thin films have failed so far. Here, we provide a solution to this long-standing problem, showing that the main culprit has been the high density of interfacial defects. By suppressing these defects through an interfacial engineering scheme, we have successfully implemented p-type Bi₂Se₃ thin films down to the thinnest topological regime. On this platform, we present the first tunable quantum Hall effect (QHE) study in Bi₂Se₃ thin films and reveal not only significantly asymmetric QHE signatures across the Dirac point but also the presence of competing anomalous states near the zeroth Landau level. The availability of doping tunable Bi₂Se₃ thin films will now make it possible to implement various topological quantum devices, previously inaccessible.