Charge Mobility and Recombination Mechanisms in Tellurium van der Waals Solid

Prashant Bhaskar*, Alexander W. Achtstein, Martien J.W. Vermeulen, Laurens D.A. Siebbeles

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
153 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Trigonal tellurium is a small band gap elemental semiconductor consisting of van der Waals bound one-dimensional helical chains of tellurium atoms. We study the temperature dependence of the charge carrier mobility and recombination pathways in bulk tellurium. Electrons and holes are generated by irradiation of the sample with 3 MeV electrons and detected by time-resolved microwave conductivity measurements. A theoretical model is used to explain the experimental observations for different charge densities and temperatures. Our analysis reveals a high room temperature mobility of 190 ± 20 cm2 V-1 s-1. The mobility is thermally deactivated, suggesting a band-like transport mechanism. According to our analysis, the charges predominantly recombine via radiative recombination with a radiative yield close to 98%, even at room temperature. The remaining charges recombine by either trap-assisted (Shockley-Read-Hall) recombination or undergo trapping to deep traps. The high mobility, near-unity radiative yield, and possibility of large-scale production of atomic wires by liquid exfoliation make Te of high potential for next-generation nanoelectronic and optoelectronic applications, including far-infrared detectors and lasers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)841-847
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry C
Volume123
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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