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arXiv · 1910.13169

Nickel oxide-based heterostructures with large band offsets

Robert Karsthof·Holger von Wenckstern·Jesus Zuniga-Perez·Christiane Deparis·Marius Grundmann
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Abstract

We present research results on the electronic transport in heterostructures based on p-type nickel oxide (NiO) with the n-type oxide semiconductors zinc oxide (ZnO) and cadmium oxide (CdO). NiO is a desirable candidate for application in (opto-)electronic devices. However, because of its small electron affinity, heterojunctions with most n-type oxide semiconductors exhibit conduction and valence band offsets at the heterointerface in excess of 1 eV. ZnO/NiO junctions exhibit a so called type-II band alignment, making electron-hole recombination the only process by which a current can vertically flow through the structure. These heterojunctions are nevertheless shown to be of practical use in efficient optoelectronic devices, as exemplified here by our UV-converting transparent solar cells. These devices, although exhibiting high conversion efficiencies, suffer from two light-activated recombination channels connected to the type-II interface, one of which we identify and analyse in more detail here. Furthermore, CdO/NiO contacts were studied - a heterostructure with even larger band offsets such that a type-III band alignment is achieved. This situation theoretically enables the development of a 2-dimensional electronic system consisting of topologically protected states. We present experiments demonstrating that the CdO/NiO heterostructure indeed hosts a conductive layer absent in both materials when studied separately.

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Robert Karsthof, Holger von Wenckstern, Jesus Zuniga-Perez, Christiane Deparis, Marius Grundmann. 2019-10-29. Nickel oxide-based heterostructures with large band offsets. https://doi.org/10.1002/pssb.201900639

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