Large-area ultrathin Te films with substrate-tunable orientation

Bianco, E. F. and Rao, R. and Snure, M. and Back, T. and Glavin, N. and McConney, M. and Ajayan, P. M. and Ringe, Emilie (2020) Large-area ultrathin Te films with substrate-tunable orientation. Nanoscale, 23. ISSN 2040-3364 DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NR01251C

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Abstract

Anisotropy in a crystal structure can lead to large orientation-dependent variations of mechanical, optical, and electronic properties. Material orientation control can thus provide a handle to manipulate properties. Here, a novel sputtering approach for 2D materials enables growth of ultrathin (2.5-10 nm) tellurium films with rational control of the crystalline orientation templated by the substrate. The anisotropic Te<0001> helical chains align in the plane of the substrate on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and orthogonally to MgO(100) substrates, as shown by polarized Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy. Furthermore, the films are shown to grow in a textured fashion on HOPG, in contrast with previous reports. These ultrathin Te films cover exceptionally large areas (>1 cm2) and are grown at low temperature (25 oC) affording the ability to accommodate a variety of substrates including flexible electronics. They are robust toward oxidation over a period of days and exhibit the non-centrosymmetric P3121 Te structure. Raman signals are acutely dependent on film thickness, suggesting that optical anisotropy persists and is even enhanced at the ultrathin limit. Hall effect measurements indicate orientation-dependent carrier mobility up to 19 cm2V-1s-1. These large-area, ultrathin Te films grown by a truly scalable, physical vapor deposition technique with rational control of orientation/thickness open avenues for controlled orientation-dependent properties in semiconducting thin films for applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	2020AREP; IA76
Subjects:	03 - Mineral Sciences
Divisions:	03 - Mineral Sciences 08 - Green Open Access
Journal or Publication Title:	Nanoscale
Volume:	23
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NR01251C
Depositing User:	Sarah Humbert
Date Deposited:	05 Jun 2020 15:25
Last Modified:	06 Aug 2020 22:45
URI:	http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/id/eprint/4757

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