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Strong charge carrier scattering at grain boundaries of PbTe caused by the collapse of metavalent bonding

Author

Listed:
  • Riga Wu

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Yuan Yu

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Shuo Jia

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Chongjian Zhou

    (Northwestern Polytechnical University)

  • Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Matthias Wuttig

    (RWTH Aachen University
    Forschungszentrum Jülich)

Abstract

Grain boundaries (GBs) play a significant role in controlling the transport of mass, heat and charge. To unravel the mechanisms underpinning the charge carrier scattering at GBs, correlative microscopy combined with local transport measurements is realized. For the PbTe material, the strength of carrier scattering at GBs depends on its misorientation angle. A concomitant change in the barrier height is observed, significantly increasing from low- to high-angle GBs. Atom probe tomography measurements reveal a disruption of metavalent bonding (MVB) at the dislocation cores of low-angle GBs, as evidenced by the abrupt change in bond-rupture behavior. In contrast, MVB is completely destroyed at high-angle GBs, presumably due to the increased Peierls distortion. The collapse of MVB is accompanied by a breakdown of the dielectric screening, which explains the enlarged GB barrier height. These findings correlate charge carrier scattering with bonding locally, promising new avenues for the design of advanced functional materials.

Suggested Citation

  • Riga Wu & Yuan Yu & Shuo Jia & Chongjian Zhou & Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin & Matthias Wuttig, 2023. "Strong charge carrier scattering at grain boundaries of PbTe caused by the collapse of metavalent bonding," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-36415-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36415-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thorsten Meiners & Timofey Frolov & Robert E. Rudd & Gerhard Dehm & Christian H. Liebscher, 2020. "Observations of grain-boundary phase transformations in an elemental metal," Nature, Nature, vol. 579(7799), pages 375-378, March.
    2. Rui Su & Zhaojian Xu & Jiang Wu & Deying Luo & Qin Hu & Wenqiang Yang & Xiaoyu Yang & Ruopeng Zhang & Hongyu Yu & Thomas P. Russell & Qihuang Gong & Wei Zhang & Rui Zhu, 2021. "Dielectric screening in perovskite photovoltaics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Decheng An & Senhao Zhang & Xin Zhai & Wutao Yang & Riga Wu & Huaide Zhang & Wenhao Fan & Wenxian Wang & Shaoping Chen & Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin & Xian-Ming Zhang & Matthias Wuttig & Yuan Yu, 2024. "Metavalently bonded tellurides: the essence of improved thermoelectric performance in elemental Te," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

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