Atomic-scale 3D imaging of individual dopant atoms in an oxide semiconductor.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35970843.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-32189-0 and PMC identifier 9378652.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The physical properties of semiconductors are controlled by chemical doping. In oxide semiconductors, small variations in the density of dopant atoms can completely change the local electric and magnetic responses caused by their strongly correlated electrons. In lightly doped systems, however, such variations are difficult to determine as quantitative 3D imaging of individual dopant atoms is a major challenge. We apply atom probe tomography to resolve the atomic sites that donors occupy in the small band gap semiconductor Er(Mn,Ti)O<sub>3</sub> with a nominal Ti concentration of 0.04 at. %, map their 3D lattice positions, and quantify spatial variations. Our work enables atomic-level 3D studies of structure-property relations in lightly doped complex oxides, which is crucial to understand and control emergent dopant-driven quantum phenomena.