Thermopower analysis of the electronic structure around metal-insulator transition in V1-xWxO2

Electronic structure across the metal-insulator (MI) transition of electron-doped V1-xWxO2 epitaxial films (x = 0-0.06) grown on alfa-Al2O3 substrates was studied by means of thermopower (S) measurements. Significant increase of |S|-values accompanied by MI transition was observed, and the transition temperatures of S (TS) decreased with x in good linear relation with MI transition temperatures. |S| values of V1-xWxO2 films at T > TS were constant at low values of 23 microV K-1 independently of x, which reflects a metallic electronic structure, whereas, those at T < TS almost linearly decreased with logarithmic W-concentrations. The gradient of -213 microV K-1 agrees well with -kB/e*ln10 (-198 microV K-1), suggesting that V1-xWxO2 films have insulating electronic structures with a parabolic density of state around the conduction band bottom.Comment: Accepted for publication as a Rapid Commun. in Phys. Rev.

Infrared-transmittance tunable metal-insulator conversion device with thin-film-transistor-type structure on a glass substrate

Infrared (IR) transmittance tunable metal-insulator conversion was demonstrated on glass substrate by using thermochromic vanadium dioxide (VO2) as the active layer in three-terminal thin-film-transistor-type device with water-infiltrated glass as the gate insulator. Alternative positive/negative gate-voltage applications induce the reversible protonation/deprotonation of VO2 channel, and two-orders of magnitude modulation of sheet-resistance and 49% modulation of IR-transmittance were simultaneously demonstrated at room temperature by the metal-insulator phase conversion of VO2 in a non-volatile manner. The present device is operable by the room-temperature protonation in all-solid-state structure, and thus it will provide a new gateway to future energy-saving technology as advanced smart window.Comment: To appear in APL Mater. (2017

Leakage-free electrolytes with different conductivity for non-volatile memory device utilizing insulator/metal ferromagnet transition of SrCoOx

The electrochemical switching of SrCoOx-based non-volatile memory with thin-film-transistor structure was examined by using liquid-leakage-free electrolytes with different conductivity (s) as the gate insulator. We first examined leakage-free water, which is incorporated in the amorphous (a-) 12CaO 7Al2O3 film with nanoporous structure (CAN), but the electrochemical oxidation/reduction of SrCoOx layer required the application of high gate voltage (Vg) up to 20 V for a very long retention-time (t) 40 minutes, primarily due to the low s (2.0 x 10-8 S cm-1 at RT) of leakage-free water.We then controlled the s of leakage-free electrolyte, infiltrated in the a-NaxTaO3 film with nanopillar array structure, from 8.0 x 10-8 S cm-1 to 2.5 x 10-6 S cm-1 at RT by changing the x = 0.01-1.0. As the result, the t, required for the metallization of SrCoOx layer under small Vg = -3 V, becomes two orders of magnitude shorter with increase of the s of the a-NaxTaO3 leakage-free electrolyte. These results indicate that the ion migration in the leakage-free electrolyte is the rate-determining step for the electrochemical switching, compared to the other electrochemical process, and the high s of the leakage-free electrolyte is the key factor for the development of the non-volatile SrCoOx-based electro-magnetic phase switching device

Experimental characterization of the electronic structure of anatase TiO2: Thermopower modulation

Thermopower (S) for anatase TiO2 epitaxial films (n3D: 1E17-1E21 /cm3) and the gate voltage (Vg) dependence of S for thin film transistors (TFTs) based on TiO2 films were investigated to clarify the electronic density of states (DOS) around the conduction band bottom. The slope of the |S|-log n3D plots was -20 {\mu}V/K, which is an order magnitude smaller than that of semiconductors (-198 {\mu}V/K), and the |S| values for the TFTs increased with Vg in the low Vg region, suggesting that the extra tail states are hybridized with the original conduction band bottom.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure