Averaging of the electron effective mass in multicomponent transparent conducting oxides

Abstract

We find that layered materials composed of various oxides of cations with $s^2$ electronic configuration, $X{Y}_2$O${}_4$, $X$=In or Sc, $Y$=Ga, Zn, Al, Cd and/or Mg, exhibit isotropic electron effective mass which can be obtained via averaging over those of the corresponding single-cation oxide constituents. This effect is due to a hybrid nature of the conduction band formed from the s-states of {\it all} cations and the oxygen p-states. Moreover, the observed insensitivity of the electron effective mass to the oxygen coordination and to the distortions in the cation-oxygen chains suggests that similar behavior can be expected in technologically important amorphous state. These findings significantly broaden the range of materials as efficient transparent conductor hosts.

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References in corpus (3)

• Magnetically Mediated Transparent Conductors: In${}_2$O${}_3$ doped with Mo
• Combining high conductivity with complete optical transparency: A band-structure approach
• Electronic structure and light-induced conductivity in a transparent refractory oxide

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Tuning the properties of complex transparent conducting oxides: role of crystal symmetry, chemical composition and carrier generation
• Multi-component Transparent Conducting Oxides: Progress in Materials Modelling
• Electronic properties of layered multicomponent wide-bandgap oxides: a combinatorial approach
• Electronic band structure and carrier effective mass in calcium aluminates