High resolution Brillouin spectroscopy of the surface acoustic waves in Sb2Te3 van der Waals single crystals

High-resolution Brillouin spectroscopy was employed to investigate the anisotropy in surface wave velocities within a bulk single crystal of Sb2Te3, a well-known layered van der Waals material. By leveraging the bulk elastic constants derived from various simulation methods, we were able to theoretically calculate the distribution of surface acoustic phonon velocities on the cleavage plane of the material. Upon analyzing multiple simulation results, it became evident that the most significant discrepancies arose in the calculations of the elastic constant c33, with values ranging from 48 to 98 GPa. Consequently, a direct measurement of the c33 elastic constant for Sb2Te3 was attempted. Through our ellipsometry results, we determined both the real and imaginary components of the refractive index, leading to an experimental determination of the c33 elastic constant, which was found to be 47.9 GPa. Additionally the results of the conducted studies enabled the analytical determination of all components of the elastic property tensor of the investigated material.