Puzzling robust 2D metallic conductivity in undoped β-Ga2O3 thin films

Here, we report the analogy of an extremely stable topological-like ultra-wide bandgap insulator, a solid that is a pure insulator in its bulk but has a metallic conductive surface, presenting a two-dimensional conductive channel at its surface that challenges our current thinking about semiconducto...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Chikoidze, Ekaterine|||0000-0002-6566-4639, Rogers, David J., Teherani, Féréchteh Hosseini, Rubio Lorente, Carles, Sauthier, Guillaume|||0000-0003-3566-3878, Von Bardeleben, Hans Jürgen, Tchelidze, Tamar, Ton-That, C., Fellous, Adel, Bove, Philippe, Sandana, Éric V., Dumont, Yves|||0000-0002-0739-428X, Perez-Tomas, Amador|||0000-0002-0551-3142
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:218077
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/218077
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.mtphys.2018.11.006
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Electron accumulation
Ga2O3
Transport properties
Wide bandgap insulator
Descripción
Sumario:Here, we report the analogy of an extremely stable topological-like ultra-wide bandgap insulator, a solid that is a pure insulator in its bulk but has a metallic conductive surface, presenting a two-dimensional conductive channel at its surface that challenges our current thinking about semiconductor conductivity engineering. Nominally undoped epitaxial β-Ga O thin films without any detectable defect (after a range of state-of-the-art techniques) showed the unexpectedly low resistivity of 3 × 10 Ωcm which was found to be also resistant to high dose proton irradiation (2 MeV, 5 × 10 cm dose) and was largely invariant (metallic) over the phenomenal temperature range of 2 K up to 850 K. The unique resilience and stability of the electrical properties under thermal and highly ionizing radiation stressing, combined with the extended transparency range (thanks to the ultra-wide bandgap) and the already known toughness under high electrical field could open up new perspectives for use as expanded spectral range transparent electrodes (e.g., for UV harvesting solar cells or UV LEDs/lasers) and robust Ohmic contacts for use in extreme environments/applications and for novel optoelectronic and power device concepts.