Experimental Hall electron mobility of bulk single crystals of transparent semiconducting oxides

Abstract

Abstract We provide a comparative study of basic electrical properties of bulk single crystals of transparent semiconducting oxides (TSOs) obtained directly from the melt (9 compounds) and from the gas phase (1 compound), including binary (β-Ga2O3, In2O3, ZnO, SnO2), ternary (ZnSnO3, BaSnO3, MgGa2O4, ZnGa2O4), and quaternary (Zn1−xMgxGa2O4, InGaZnO4) systems. Experimental outcome, covering over 200 samples measured at room temperature, revealed n-type conductivity of all TSOs with free electron concentrations (ne) between 5 × 1015 and 5 × 1020 cm−3 and Hall electron mobilities (μH) up to 240 cm2 V−1 s−1. The widest range of ne values was achieved for β-Ga2O3 and In2O3. The most electrically conducting bulk crystals are InGaZnO4 and ZnSnO3 with ne > 1020 cm−3 and μH > 100 cm2 V−1 s−1. The highest μH values > 200 cm2 V−1 s−1 were measured for SnO2, followed by BaSnO3 and In2O3 single crystals. In2O3, ZnO, ZnSnO3, and InGaZnO4 crystals were always conducting, while others could be turned into electrical insulators. Graphic abstract