Carrier transport and electrical bandgaps in epitaxial CrN layers

TL;DR

This study investigates the electrical transport properties and bandgap of epitaxial CrN layers grown on different AlN templates, revealing their antiferromagnetic nature, n-type semiconducting behavior, and intrinsic bandgap around 0.15 eV.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of the transport mechanisms and intrinsic bandgap in epitaxial CrN layers grown via plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy.

Findings

CrN layers exhibit antiferromagnetism with a Néel temperature of ~280 K.

CrN shows n-type semiconducting behavior from 4 to 920 K.

Intrinsic bandgap of CrN estimated at approximately 0.15 eV.

Abstract

The transport properties and electrical bandgap of nominally undoped ~75-nm-thick CrN layers simultaneously grown on AlN(0001) and AlN(11\bar{2}2) templates using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy are investigated. The layers grown on AlN(0001) and AlN(11\bar{2}2) exhibit (111) and (113) surface orientations, respectively. All layers exhibit antiferromagnetism with a N\'eel temperature of ~280 K, observed by temperature-dependent magnetic and electrical measurements. Hall-effect measurements demonstrate n-type semiconducting behavior across a wide temperature range from 4 to 920 K. At low temperatures (4 - 260 K), the data show parallel conduction channels from a metallic impurity band and the conduction band. The carrier mobility exhibits a temperature dependence consistent with a nondegenerate semiconductor, governed by ionized-impurity scattering below 400 K and phonon scattering above 400 K. An analysis of the temperature-dependent carrier density between 300 and 920 K yields two activation energies associated with intrinsic conduction: 0.15 eV (with an uncertainty of -0.02/+0.10 eV), which we attribute to the fundamental bandgap, and 0.50 eV (with an uncertainty of -0.05/+0.15 eV) representing a higher energy transition.