New directions in Transparent Conducting Oxides

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TCOs are a crucial component in modern devices; their ability to conduct charge easily but maintain transparency in the visible spectrum make them ubiquitous in optoelectronic research. Notable examples of tech include touch screen displays on mobile phones and electrodes in solar cell devices. The industry standard material is indium tin oxide, which was also the first TCO material to be discovered in the late 1990s. Much research and development has been lavished on this material to improve its performance and there is evidence that this material is approaching optimal conductivity. If we want to develop further, new materials are required. Our group specialises in crystal growth and characterisation of new TCO materials. Our approach is to switch out indium, which is expensive and scarce, with other post-transition metal ions, notably antimony and telurium. Single crystals of these materials are very rare as they are incredibly difficult to grow due to the volatility and instability of the transition metal ion. We have developed a new method of synthesizing crystals of these compounds using a chemical vapour transport technique. This project will pursue crystal growth and characterisation of new TCO compounds. Multiple characterisation methods including resistivity, Hall effect, optical absorption spectroscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy to probe the properties.