Abstract Previous band structure calculations predicted Ag3AuSe2to be a semiconductor with a band gap of approximately 1 eV. Here, we report single crystal growth of Ag3AuSe2and its transport and optical properties. Single crystals of Ag3AuSe2were synthesized by slow‐cooling from the melt, and grain sizes were confirmed to be greater than 2 mm using electron backscatter diffraction. Optical and transport measurements reveal that Ag3AuSe2is a highly resistive semiconductor with a band gap and activation energy around 0.3 eV. Our first‐principles calculations show that the experimentally determined band gap lies between the predicted band gaps from GGA and hybrid functionals. We predict band inversion to be possible by applying tensile strain. The sensitivity of the gap to Ag/Au ordering, chemical substitution, and heat treatment merit further investigation.
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Exfoliable Transition Metal Chalcogenide Semiconductor NbSe 2 I 2
As the field of exfoliated van der Waals electronics grows to include complex heterostructures, the variety of available in-plane symmetries and geometries becomes increasingly valuable. In this work, we present an efficient chemical vapor transport synthesis of NbSe2I2 with the triclinic space group P1̅. This material contains Nb–Nb dimers and an in-plane crystallographic angle γ = 61.3°. We show that NbSe2I2 can be exfoliated down to few-layer and monolayer structures and use Raman spectroscopy to test the preservation of the crystal structure of exfoliated thin films. The crystal structure was verified by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction methods. Density functional theory calculations show triclinic NbSe2I2 to be a semiconductor with a band gap of around 1 eV, with similar band structure features for bulk and monolayer crystals. The physical properties of NbSe2I2 have been characterized by transport, thermal, optical, and magnetic measurements, demonstrating triclinic NbSe2I2 to be a diamagnetic semiconductor that does not exhibit any phase transformation below room temperature.
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- PAR ID:
- 10488777
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Chemical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Volume:
- 63
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0020-1669
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1119-1126
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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