Quantitative measurement of the charge carrier concentration using dielectric force microscopy

The charge carrier concentration profile is a critical factor that determines semiconducting material properties and device performance.Dielectric force microscopy(DFM)has been previously developed to map charge carrier concentrations with nanometer-scale spatial resolution.However,it is challenging to quantitatively obtain the charge carrier concentration,since the dielectric force is also affected by the mobility.Here,we quantitative measured the charge carrier concentration at the saturation mobility regime via the rectification effect-dependent gating ratio of DFM.By measuring a series of n-type GaAs and GaN thin films with mobility in the saturation regime,we confirmed the decreased DFM-measured gating ratio with increasing electron concentration.Combined with numerical simulation to calibrate the tip–sample geometry-induced systematic error,the quantitative correlation between the DFM-measured gating ratio and the electron concentration has been established,where the extracted electron concentration presents high accuracy in the range of 4×10^(16)–1×10^(18)cm^(-3).We expect the quantitative DFM to find broad applications in characterizing the charge carrier transport properties of various semiconducting materials and devices.

Computational exploration and screening of novel Janus MA2Z4 (M = Sc–Zn, Y–Ag, Hf–Au;A=Si, Ge;Z=N, P) monolayers and potential application as a photocatalyst

By high-throughput calculations,13 thermally and environmentally stable Janus MA_(2)Z_(4) monolayers were screened from 104 types of candidates.The 13 stable monolayers have very high charge carrier concentrations(×10^(15) cm^(–2)),which are better than those of the well-known graphene and TaS_(2).Because of their excellent conductivity,the 6 monolayers with band gaps less than 0.5 eV are identified as potential electrode materials for hydrogen evolution reaction applications.For potential applications as photoelectric or photocatalytic materials,bandgaps(Eg-HSE)higher than 0.5 eV remained,which resulted in 7 potential candidates.Based on optical absorption analysis in the visible-light range,H-HfSiGeP_(4) and HMoSiGeP_(4) have higher absorption ability and optical conductivity,which is quite impressive for optoelectronic,solar cell device,and photocatalysis applications.Additionally,the transmittance coefficient of Janus MA_(2)Z_(4) monolayers is approximately 70%–80%in the visible-light range,which implies that these monolayers show good light transmittance.For potential applications as photocatalysts,the redox potential and charge effective mass analysis indicate that H-HfSiGeP_(4),HMoSiGeP_(4),T-ScSiGeN_(4),and T-ZrSiGeN_(4) are suitable photocatalysts for CO_(2) reduction reactions.Using high-throughput identification,13 types of new and stable Janus MA2Z4 monolayers were explored,and the basic properties and potential applications were investigated,which can reduce the time for experiments and provide basic data for the material genome initiative.