Discovery of a metastable van der Waals semiconductor via polymorphic crystallization of an amorphous film

Yuta Saito; Shogo Hatayama; Wen Hsin Chang; Naoya Okada; Toshifumi Irisawa; Fumihiko Uesugi; Masaki Takeguchi; Yuji Sutou; Paul Fons

doi:10.1039/d2mh01449a

Discovery of a metastable van der Waals semiconductor via polymorphic crystallization of an amorphous film

Mater Horiz. 2023 Jun 6;10(6):2254-2261. doi: 10.1039/d2mh01449a.

Authors

Yuta Saito¹, Shogo Hatayama¹, Wen Hsin Chang¹, Naoya Okada¹, Toshifumi Irisawa¹, Fumihiko Uesugi², Masaki Takeguchi², Yuji Sutou^{3

4}, Paul Fons^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Device Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba Central 2, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, 305-8568, Japan. yuta-saito@aist.go.jp.
² Electron Microscopy Analysis Station, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, 305-0047, Japan.
³ Department of Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-11 Aoba-yama, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
⁴ Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan.
⁵ Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, 223-8522, Japan.

PMID: 37021482
DOI: 10.1039/d2mh01449a

Abstract

Here we report on the growth of thin crystalline films of the metastable phase GeTe₂. Direct observation by transmission electron microscopy revealed a Te-Ge-Te stacking with van der Waals gaps. Moreover, electrical and optical measurements revealed the films exhibted semiconducting properties commensurate with electronics applications. Feasibility studies in which device structures were fabricated demonstrated the potential application of GeTe₂ as an electronic material.