Refractory Electronics and Plasmonics

Refractory materials in materials science and solid-state chemistry are defined as materials that are chemically, structurally, and morphologically stable at high temperatures (~2000ºC). For refractory electronic applications, a semiconductor in general has to satisfy several conditions such as (a) large bandgap, (b) high melting temperature, (c) large breakdown voltage, (d) ability to easily dope both n-type and p-type and (e) ability to integrate with metals for stable contacts at high operating temperatures. Similarly refractory plasmonic materials must also exhibit (a) excellent plasmonic properties with low losses, (b) structural stability at high temperatures and many others. Development of such materials would enable highly efficient solar-to-electrical energy conversion devices, high temperature thermoelectric materials, and many others.

Transition Metal Nitrides (TMN) and their heterostructures exhibits high melting temperatures in excess of 3000K and have already demonstrated interesting electronic and plasmonic properties. Our group is currently researching on the refractory electronic and plasmonic properties of TMN. We envision that such materials would find applications in most of the future devices involving refractory applications.

Image Courtesy: Science 344, 263 (2014).