Anomalous thickness-dependent electrical conductivity in van der Waals layered transition metal halide, Nb_3Cl_8

TL;DR

This study investigates how electrical conductivity in Nb3Cl8, a layered transition metal halide, varies with thickness, revealing a transition to surface conduction dominance at nanoscale dimensions and providing insights into its transport mechanisms.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed analysis of thickness-dependent electrical conductivity in Nb3Cl8, highlighting the transition to surface conduction and intrinsic transport properties.

Findings

Conductivity increases by over three orders of magnitude as thickness decreases from 280 μm to 5 nm.

Below ~50 nm, conductance becomes thickness independent, indicating surface conduction dominance.

Effective activation energy decreases from 310 meV to 140 meV with decreasing thickness.

Abstract

Understanding the electronic transport properties of layered, van der Waals transition metal halides (TMHs) and chalcogenides is a highly active research topic today. Of particular interest is the evolution of those properties with changing thickness as the 2D limit is approached. Here, we present the electrical conductivity of exfoliated single crystals of the TMH, cluster magnet, Nb3Cl8, over a wide range of thicknesses both with and without hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) encapsulation. The conductivity is found to increase by more than three orders of magnitude when the thickness is decreased from 280 {\mu}m to 5 nm, at 300 K. At low temperatures and below ~50 nm, the conductance becomes thickness independent, implying surface conduction is dominating. Temperature dependent conductivity measurements indicate Nb3Cl8 is an insulator, however the effective activation energy decreases from a bulk value of 310 meV to 140 meV by 5nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows mild surface oxidation in devices without hBN capping, however, no significant difference in transport is observed when compared to the capped devices, implying the thickness dependent transport behavior is intrinsic to the material. A conduction mechanism comprised of a higher conductivity surface channel in parallel with a lower conductivity interlayer channel is discussed.