Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userElectronic Transport Properties of Carrier Controlled SnSe Single Crystals
92
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We found that the electronic transport property of SnSe single crystals was sensitive to oxygen content. Semiconducting SnSe single crystals were obtained by using Sn of grain form as a starting material while powder Sn resulted in metallic SnSe. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the surfaces of raw Sn were oxidized, where the volume fraction was relatively low in grain Sn. This demonstrates that contamination of oxygen causes metallic behavior in grown SnSe single crystals.
rate research
Read More
SnSe is a promising thermoelectric material with record-breaking figure of merit, textit{i.e., ZT}. As a semiconductor, optimal electrical dosage is the key challenge to maximize textit{ZT} in SnSe. However, to date a comprehensive understanding of the electronic structure and most critically, the self-hole doping mechanism in SnSe is still absent. Here, we report the highly anisotropic electronic structure of SnSe investigated by both angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum transport, in which a unique textit{pudding-mold} shaped valence band with quasi-linear energy dispersion is revealed. We prove that the electrical doping in SnSe is extrinsically controlled by the formation of SnSe$_{2}$ micro-domains induced by local phase segregation. Using different growth methods and conditions, we have achieved wide tuning of hole doping in SnSe, ranging from intrinsic semiconducting behaviour to typical metal with carrier density of $1.23times 10^{18}$ cm$^{-3}$ at room temperature. The resulting multi-valley transport in $p$-SnSe is characterized by non-saturating weak localization along the armchair axis, due to strong intervalley scattering enhanced by in-plane ferroelectric dipole field of the puckering lattice. Strikingly, quantum oscillations of magnetoresistance reveal three-dimensional electronic structure with unusual interlayer coupling strength in $p$-SnSe, which is correlated to the interweaving of SnSe individual layers by unique point dislocation defects. Our results suggest that defect engineering may provide versatile routes in improving the thermoelectric performance of the SnSe family.
By means of first-principles calculations, we explore systematically the geometric, electronic and piezoelectric properties of multilayer SnSe. We find that these properties are layer-dependent, indicating that the interlayer interaction plays an important role. With increasing the number of SnSe layers from 1 to 6, we observe that the lattice constant decreases from 4.27 $mathring{A}$ to 4.22 $mathring{A}$ along zigzag direction, and increases from 4.41 $mathring{A}$ to 4.51 $mathring{A}$ along armchair direction close to the bulk limit (4.21 $mathring{A}$ and 4.52 $mathring{A}$, respectively); the band gap decreases from 1.45 eV to 1.08 eV, approaching the bulk gap 0.95 eV. Although the monolayer SnSe exhibits almost symmetric geometric and electronic structures along zigzag and armchair directions, bulk SnSe is obviously anisotropic, showing that the stacking of layers enhances the anisotropic character of SnSe. As bulk and even-layer SnSe have inversion centers, they cannot exhibit piezoelectric responses. However, we show that the odd-layer SnSe have piezoelectric coefficients much higher than those of the known piezoelectric materials, suggesting that the odd-layer SnSe is a good piezoelectric material.
The trigonal compound EuMg2Bi2 has recently been discussed in terms of its topological band properties. These are intertwined with its magnetic properties. Here detailed studies of the magnetic, thermal, and electronic transport properties of EuMg2Bi2 single crystals are presented. The Eu{+2} spins-7/2 in EuMg2Bi2 exhibit an antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition at a temperature TN = 6.7 K, as previously reported. By analyzing the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility chi data below TN in terms of molecular-field theory (MFT), the AFM structure is inferred to be a c-axis helix, where the ordered moments in the hexagonal ab-plane layers are aligned ferromagnetically in the ab plane with a turn angle between the moments in adjacent moment planes along the c axis of about 120 deg. The magnetic heat capacity exhibits a lambda anomaly at TN with evidence of dynamic short-range magnetic fluctuations both above and below TN. The high-T limit of the magnetic entropy is close to the theoretical value for spins-7/2. The in-plane electrical resistivity rho(T) data indicate metallic character with a mild and disorder-sensitive upturn below Tmin = 23 K. An anomalous rapid drop in rho(T) on cooling below TN as found in zero field is replaced by a two-step decrease in magnetic fields. The rho(T) measurements also reveal an additional transition below TN in applied fields of unknown origin that is not observed in the other measurements and may be associated with an incommensurate to commensurate AFM transition. The dependence of TN on the c-axis magnetic field Hperp was derived from the field-dependent chi(T), Cp(T), and rho(T) measurements. This TN(Hperp) was found to be consistent with the prediction of MFT for a c-axis helix with S = 7/2 and was used to generate a phase diagram in the Hperp-T plane.
In most topological insulators, the valence and conduction band appear in reverse or inverted order compared to an equivalent insulator with isolated atoms. Here, we explore a different route towards topologically nontrivial states that may arise from metallic states present on the surface of bulk insulators without such band inversion. High-quality single crystals of HfNiSn show surface transport with weak anti-localization, consistent with a two-dimensional metallic state in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling. Nonlinear I(V) curves indicate electronic correlations related to a chiral, nonlocal transport component that is qualitatively similar to a quantum Hall edge state, yet in the absence of external magnetic fields. The correlations themselves may play a decisive role in creating an apparent topologically nontrivial state on the HfNiSn surface.
The discovery of high thermoelectric performance in n-type polycrystalline Mg3(Sb,Bi)2 based Zintl compounds has ignited intensive research interest. However, some fundamental questions concerning the anisotropic transport properties and the origin of intrinsically low thermal conductivity are still elusive, requiring the investigation of single crystals. In this work, high-quality p-type Mg3Sb2 and Mg3Bi2 single crystals have been grown by using a self-flux method. The electrical resistivity r{ho} of Mg3Bi2 single crystal displays an anisotropy with r{ho} in-plane twice larger than out-of-plane. The low-temperature heat capacity and lattice thermal conductivity of Mg3Sb2 and Mg3Bi2 single crystals have been investigated by using the Debye-Callaway model, from which the existence of low-lying vibration mode could be concluded. Large Gruneisen parameters and strong anharmonicity are found responsible for the intrinsically low thermal conductivity. Moreover, grain boundary scattering does not contribute significantly to suppress the lattice thermal conductivity of polycrystalline Mg3Sb2. Our results provide insights into the intrinsic transport properties of Mg3X2 and could pave a way to realize enhanced thermoelectric performance in single-crystalline Mg3X2-based Zintl compounds.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
