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Communication

Temperature-driven reversible structural transformation and conductivity switching in ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals

Lei Zhang1,§, Zeya Li2,§, Ying Deng3, Li Li4, Zhansheng Gao1, Jiabiao Chen1, Zhengyang Zhou5, Junwei Huang2, Weigao Xu4, Xuewen Fu3( ), Hongtao Yuan2( ), Feng Luo1, Jinxiong Wu1( )
Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Ultrafast Electron Microscopy Laboratory, The Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200093, China

§ Lei Zhang and Zeya Li contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

Based on Hall measurements, we systematically investigated the basic electrical properties of chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown Cu9S5 crystals, showing a record high hole carrier density of ~ 1022 cm−3 among two-dimensional semiconductors. Besides, an unusual and repeatable temperature-driven conductivity switching loop at ~ 250 K was observed in a wide thickness range, which can be ascribed to the thermally driven reversible structural transformation between room-temperature non-superlattice and low-temperature superlattice structures.

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with reversible phase transformation are appealing for their rich physics and potential applications in information storage. However, up to now, reversible phase transitions in 2D materials that can be driven by facile nondestructive methods, such as temperature, are still rare. Here, we introduce ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) as an exemplary case. For the first time, their basic electrical properties were investigated based on Hall measurements, showing a record high hole carrier density of ~ 1022 cm−3 among 2D semiconductors. Besides, an unusual and repeatable conductivity switching behavior at ~ 250 K were readily observed in a wide thickness range of CVD-grown Cu9S5 (down to 2 unit-cells). Confirmed by in-situ selected area electron diffraction, this unusual behavior can be ascribed to the reversible structural phase transition between the room-temperature hexagonal β phase and low-temperature β’ phase with a superstructure. Our work provides new insights to understand the physical properties of ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals, and brings new blood to the 2D materials family with reversible phase transitions.

Keywords

chemical vapor depositionreversible phase transitionultrathin Cu9S5 crystalsultrahigh carrier densityconductivity switching

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 7,
July 2023
Pages 10515-10521
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-023-5805-9
Cite this article:
Zhang L, Li Z, Deng Y, et al. Temperature-driven reversible structural transformation and conductivity switching in ultrathin Cu9S5 crystals. Nano Research, 2023, 16(7): 10515-10521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5805-9
Topics:
Semiconductors

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Received: 06 March 2023
Revised: 24 April 2023
Accepted: 03 May 2023
Published: 01 June 2023
© Tsinghua University Press 2023
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