Enhanced performance in transparent conducting materials at the interface of a wide band gap semiconductor and a correlated metal

Stoner, Jessica L, Batuk, Maria, Manning, Troy D ORCID: 0000-0002-7624-4306, Dyer, Matthew S ORCID: 0000-0002-4923-3003, Hadermann, Joke, Rosseinsky, Matthew J ORCID: 0000-0002-1910-2483 and Alaria, Jonathan ORCID: 0000-0001-5868-0318 (2025) Enhanced performance in transparent conducting materials at the interface of a wide band gap semiconductor and a correlated metal MATERIALS HORIZONS, 12 (15). pp. 5820-5828. ISSN 2051-6347, 2051-6355

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Abstract

Several classes of inorganic transparent conducting coatings are available (broad band wide band gap semiconductors, noble metals, amorphous oxides and correlated metals), with peak performance depending on the layer thickness. Correlated metallic transition metal oxides have emerged as potential competitive materials for small coating thicknesses, but their peak performance remains one order of magnitude below other best in class materials. By exploiting the charge transfer at the interface between a correlated metal (SrNbO<inf>3</inf>) and a wide band gap semiconductor (SrTiO<inf>3</inf>), we show that pulsed laser deposition-grown SrNbO<inf>3</inf> heterostructures on SrTiO<inf>3</inf> outperform correlated metals by an order of magnitude. The apparent increase in carrier concentration confirms that an electronically active interfacial layer is contributing to the transport properties of the heterostructure. The correlated metallic electrode allows the extraction of high mobility carriers resulting in enhanced conductivity for heterostructures with thicknesses up to 20 nm. The high optical absorption of the high mobility metallic interface does not have a detrimental effect on the transmission of the heterostructure due to its small thickness. The charge transfer-driven enhanced electrical properties in correlated metal - wide band gap semiconductor heterostructures offer a distinct route to high performance transparent conducting materials.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	40 Engineering, 3403 Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, 4016 Materials Engineering, 34 Chemical Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Science & Engineering Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Physical Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2025 09:49
Last Modified:	23 May 2026 10:14
DOI:	10.1039/d5mh00283d
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3193709
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