Issue 13, 2025

Structurally disordered In2Te3 semiconductor: novel insights

Abstract

The crystal structures of low- (α) and high-temperature (β) modifications of In2Te3 are refined for the first time. They crystallize with unique noncentrosymmetric face-centered cubic and half-Heusler arrangements, respectively. Both models are related with each other via a groupsubgroup formalism. The small changes in unit-cell volume and entropy at the α → β structural phase transition indicate that it is of 2nd order. The strong structural disorder in α-In2Te3 results in a temperature-dependent behavior of the electrical resistivity similar to that of doped semiconductors (with a well-defined maximum) and extremely low thermal conductivity [κ(T) ≤ 0.7 W m−1 K−1]. Additional reasons for the poor electrical and thermal transport are low charge-carrier concentration and mobility, as well as enhanced phonon scattering at point defects, together with the presence of four-phonon processes and a ‘rattling’ effect. α-In2Te3 is found to be an n-type indirect semiconductor with an energy gap of 1.03 eV. All these physical characteristics are intrinsic properties of a high-quality stoichiometric crystal.

Graphical abstract: Structurally disordered In2Te3 semiconductor: novel insights

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Sep 2024
Accepted
10 Feb 2025
First published
03 Mar 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025,13, 9357-9371

Structurally disordered In2Te3 semiconductor: novel insights

E. Zuñiga-Puelles, A. Özden, R. Cardoso-Gil, C. Hennig, C. Himcinschi, J. Kortus and R. Gumeniuk, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, 13, 9357 DOI: 10.1039/D4TA06357K

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