Nitrogen stabilizes the wurtzite polymorph in ZnSe 1− x Te x thin films
Abstract
Materials based on tetrahedral structural motifs are the most used semiconductor systems in deployed technologies. This holds true for microelectronics based on doped Si (diamond structure), photovoltaics based on CdTe (zinc blende structure), and light emitting diodes based on GaN (wurtzite structure). In these compound examples, the extended crystal structure is determined by modifications to the arrangement of the underlying tetrahedral motifs; controlling this structure is a foundational way to design functionality in semiconductor materials. Here, N-doped ZnSe1-xTex thin films are grown by RF sputtering from compound targets with N2 gas as a N source. Crystalline films form across a large range of growth conditions, and in some N-doped films there is a transformation from the usual zinc blende structure to wurtzite. Depending on the temperature and N2 flow rate during growth, wurtzite can be synthesized across most of the composition range explored, ranging from Te-rich (x ≈ 0.7) to nearly pure ZnSe (x ≈ 0.1). Synchrotron diffraction data show that the wurtzite is phase-pure at N-doped ZnSe0.5Te0.5 alloy compositions grown under some conditions. Temperature-dependent resistivity measurements collected from N-doped ZnSe0.5Te0.5 are well fit by a model dominated by variable range hopping, suggesting defect-mediated transport. Density functional theory calculations thatmore »
- Authors:
-
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1891938
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1898370
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5K00-83292
Journal ID: ISSN 2050-7526; JMCCCX
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308; SC0021266
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Materials Chemistry C
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Journal of Materials Chemistry C Journal Volume: 10 Journal Issue: 42; Journal ID: ISSN 2050-7526
- Publisher:
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; chalcogenide; materials discovery; photoabsorber; semiconductor
Citation Formats
Culman, Theodore H., Woods-Robinson, Rachel, Mangum, John S., Smaha, Rebecca W., Rom, Christopher L., Zakutayev, Andriy, and Bauers, Sage R. Nitrogen stabilizes the wurtzite polymorph in ZnSe 1− x Te x thin films. United Kingdom: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1039/D2TC02716J.
Culman, Theodore H., Woods-Robinson, Rachel, Mangum, John S., Smaha, Rebecca W., Rom, Christopher L., Zakutayev, Andriy, & Bauers, Sage R. Nitrogen stabilizes the wurtzite polymorph in ZnSe 1− x Te x thin films. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2TC02716J
Culman, Theodore H., Woods-Robinson, Rachel, Mangum, John S., Smaha, Rebecca W., Rom, Christopher L., Zakutayev, Andriy, and Bauers, Sage R. Thu .
"Nitrogen stabilizes the wurtzite polymorph in ZnSe 1− x Te x thin films". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2TC02716J.
@article{osti_1891938,
title = {Nitrogen stabilizes the wurtzite polymorph in ZnSe 1− x Te x thin films},
author = {Culman, Theodore H. and Woods-Robinson, Rachel and Mangum, John S. and Smaha, Rebecca W. and Rom, Christopher L. and Zakutayev, Andriy and Bauers, Sage R.},
abstractNote = {Materials based on tetrahedral structural motifs are the most used semiconductor systems in deployed technologies. This holds true for microelectronics based on doped Si (diamond structure), photovoltaics based on CdTe (zinc blende structure), and light emitting diodes based on GaN (wurtzite structure). In these compound examples, the extended crystal structure is determined by modifications to the arrangement of the underlying tetrahedral motifs; controlling this structure is a foundational way to design functionality in semiconductor materials. Here, N-doped ZnSe1-xTex thin films are grown by RF sputtering from compound targets with N2 gas as a N source. Crystalline films form across a large range of growth conditions, and in some N-doped films there is a transformation from the usual zinc blende structure to wurtzite. Depending on the temperature and N2 flow rate during growth, wurtzite can be synthesized across most of the composition range explored, ranging from Te-rich (x ≈ 0.7) to nearly pure ZnSe (x ≈ 0.1). Synchrotron diffraction data show that the wurtzite is phase-pure at N-doped ZnSe0.5Te0.5 alloy compositions grown under some conditions. Temperature-dependent resistivity measurements collected from N-doped ZnSe0.5Te0.5 are well fit by a model dominated by variable range hopping, suggesting defect-mediated transport. Density functional theory calculations that show that dilute N concentrations help stabilize the wurtzite polymorph of ZnSe0.5Te0.5. Electron microscopy reveals voids in the N-doped films’ microstructures. We attribute this more open microstructure—which may also be partially responsible for stabilizing the wurtzite phase—to trapped N2. This work highlights unexpected polytypism in one of the most studied semiconductor systems, motivating a closer look at other semiconductor alloys for similar structural diversity.},
doi = {10.1039/D2TC02716J},
journal = {Journal of Materials Chemistry C},
number = 42,
volume = 10,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Thu Nov 03 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Thu Nov 03 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2TC02716J
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