Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires

We studied the influence of uniaxial deformation on the transport properties of bismuth wires in the wide range of temperatures. Measurements of the resistance of bismuth nanowires with several diameters and different quality reveal oscillations on the dependence of resistance under uniaxial strain...

Повний опис

Збережено в:
Бібліографічні деталі
Дата:2010
Автори: Condrea, E., Gilewski, A.
Формат: Стаття
Мова:English
Опубліковано: Фізико-технічний інститут низьких температур ім. Б.І. Вєркіна НАН України 2010
Назва видання:Физика низких температур
Теми:
Онлайн доступ:http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/116969
Теги: Додати тег
Немає тегів, Будьте першим, хто поставить тег для цього запису!
Назва журналу:Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Цитувати:Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires / E. Condrea, A. Gilewski // Физика низких температур. — 2010. — Т. 36, № 3. — С. 316-320. — Бібліогр.: 17 назв. — англ.

Репозитарії

Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
id irk-123456789-116969
record_format dspace
spelling irk-123456789-1169692017-05-19T03:03:28Z Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires Condrea, E. Gilewski, A. Наноструктуры при низких температурах We studied the influence of uniaxial deformation on the transport properties of bismuth wires in the wide range of temperatures. Measurements of the resistance of bismuth nanowires with several diameters and different quality reveal oscillations on the dependence of resistance under uniaxial strain at T = 4.2 K. Amplitude of oscillations is significant (38%) at helium temperature and becomes smearing at T = 77 K. Observed oscillations originate from quantum size effect. Evaluation of period of oscillations allows us to identify the groups of carriers involved in transport. Calculated periods of 42.2 and 25.9 nm satisfy approximatively the ratio 2:1 for two experimentally observed sets of oscillations from light and heavy electrons. 2010 Article Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires / E. Condrea, A. Gilewski // Физика низких температур. — 2010. — Т. 36, № 3. — С. 316-320. — Бібліогр.: 17 назв. — англ. 0132-6414 PACS: 73.63.Nm, 73.90.+f http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/116969 en Физика низких температур Фізико-технічний інститут низьких температур ім. Б.І. Вєркіна НАН України
institution Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
collection DSpace DC
language English
topic Наноструктуры при низких температурах
Наноструктуры при низких температурах
spellingShingle Наноструктуры при низких температурах
Наноструктуры при низких температурах
Condrea, E.
Gilewski, A.
Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires
Физика низких температур
description We studied the influence of uniaxial deformation on the transport properties of bismuth wires in the wide range of temperatures. Measurements of the resistance of bismuth nanowires with several diameters and different quality reveal oscillations on the dependence of resistance under uniaxial strain at T = 4.2 K. Amplitude of oscillations is significant (38%) at helium temperature and becomes smearing at T = 77 K. Observed oscillations originate from quantum size effect. Evaluation of period of oscillations allows us to identify the groups of carriers involved in transport. Calculated periods of 42.2 and 25.9 nm satisfy approximatively the ratio 2:1 for two experimentally observed sets of oscillations from light and heavy electrons.
format Article
author Condrea, E.
Gilewski, A.
author_facet Condrea, E.
Gilewski, A.
author_sort Condrea, E.
title Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires
title_short Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires
title_full Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires
title_fullStr Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires
title_full_unstemmed Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires
title_sort quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires
publisher Фізико-технічний інститут низьких температур ім. Б.І. Вєркіна НАН України
publishDate 2010
topic_facet Наноструктуры при низких температурах
url http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/116969
citation_txt Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires / E. Condrea, A. Gilewski // Физика низких температур. — 2010. — Т. 36, № 3. — С. 316-320. — Бібліогр.: 17 назв. — англ.
series Физика низких температур
work_keys_str_mv AT condreae quantumoscillationsofresistivityinbismuthnanowires
AT gilewskia quantumoscillationsofresistivityinbismuthnanowires
first_indexed 2025-07-08T11:23:52Z
last_indexed 2025-07-08T11:23:52Z
_version_ 1837077714882789376
fulltext © E. Condrea and A. Gilewski, 2010 Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur, 2010, v. 36, No. 3, p. 316–320 Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires E. Condrea1,2 and A. Gilewski2 1Institute of Electronic Engineering and Industrial Technologies, Academy of Sciences of Moldova 3/3 Academiei Str. MD 2028, Kishinev, Republic of Moldova 2International Laboratory of High Magnetic Fields and Low Temperatures, 53-421 Wroclaw, Poland E-mail: condrea@lises.asm.md Received October 12, 2009 We studied the influence of uniaxial deformation on the transport properties of bismuth wires in the wide range of temperatures. Measurements of the resistance of bismuth nanowires with several diameters and different quality reveal oscillations on the dependence of resistance under uniaxial strain at T = 4.2 K. Amplitude of oscil- lations is significant (38%) at helium temperature and becomes smearing at T = 77 K. Observed oscillations ori- ginate from quantum size effect. Evaluation of period of oscillations allows us to identify the groups of carriers involved in transport. Calculated periods of 42.2 and 25.9 nm satisfy approximatively the ratio 2:1 for two expe- rimentally observed sets of oscillations from light and heavy electrons. PACS: 73.63.Nm Quantum wires; 73.90.+f Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films, and low- dimensional structures. Keywords: bismuth; electrical resistance; quantum size oscillations; nanowires. . 1. Introduction A lot of the investigations concerned with various na- nostructures is motivated partially by the very interesting thermoelectric and magnetotransport properties of bismuth nanowires (NWs) that make them potentially useful for device applications. Theoretical calculations [1–3] pre- dicted that Bi nanowires should have an enlarged thermo- electric figure of merit, which results from the quantum size effect, have induced extensive studies of Bi NWs. Under the quantum size effect (QSE), several fundamental macroscopic characteristic of solids exhibit an anomalous dependence on reduced size. Therefore, for subsequent applications, a precise determination of the size-dependent parameters of investigated nanostructures is required. If the decreased size of wires or films becomes comparable with the electron wavelength ( ~d λ) , the transverse motion of carriers is quantized. Thus, the energy spectrum splits into subbands. When the discreteness of the energy subbands becomes significant, an oscillatory behavior of electron and hole density of states (DOS) as a function of thickness is expected for metal films [3,4]. Oscillations of DOS are due to variation in number of the subbands with diameter. According to the theoretical considerations of the QSE [3– 5] all the transport coefficients which depend on the DOS should oscillate as a function of sample thickness with the period: ( )1/2 */ 2 2 t Fd h m EΔ = , (1), where *tm is the transverse effective masses, and FE is Fermi level. The main experimental results in the investigations of the QSE have been obtained for thin semimetal films. The first quantum size oscillations in the resistivity, Hall coef- ficient, and magnetoresistance with a period of 400 Å were observed in thin bismuth films [6]. Investigations [7] of bismuth films in large range of thickness (200–3000 Å) revealed that the period of the resistance oscillations varied from 40 to 250 Å with sample thickness. The difference in the period was attributed to the differences in the carrier concentrations due to growth conditions. Quantum oscillations in the resistance of bismuth- antimony alloy films were registered under variation in both thickness and Sb concentration at a fixed thickness [8]. The concentration oscillations in a sample with con- stant thickness are explained by the change of the trans- verse quasi-momentum caused by composition variation in the Bi-Sb alloy. An other manifestation of the QSE [9] was observed while studying the thickness dependence of the Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur, 2010, v. 36, No. 3 317 ratio of the electron and hole density of states measured under electric field effect (EFE). The method allows a ra- ther precise determination of the film thickness period of the oscillations, which is about 370 Å. In most of the above-mentioned cases, QSE was shown as an oscillatory behavior of the resistance dependence on film thickness. As is pointed out in [5], a variation in the value of the band overlap should also produce an oscillato- ry behavior of the kinetic coefficients. The changes in band overlap in a bulk Bi samples under deformation was de- scribed by Brandt [10]. The influence of the deformation on the band overlap changes was tested for bismuth films condensed on mica substrates [11]. Observed non-mo- notonous behavior of the resistance in bismuth films under sagging deformation is in a good agreement with the con- cept of QSE. To our knowledge, up to now, most of the studies on quantum oscillations in transport properties of Bi nano- structures are concerned with thin films. The conditions of observation of the QSE on thickness dependences of the kinetic coefficients of thin wires are complicated by diffi- culties in the preparation of a series of samples with a small increment in thickness and identical characteristics of the bulk. Despite a lot of recently developed techniques for preparation of nanowires [1,2,12] the bulk characteris- tic data from different experiments depend not only on sample cross-sectional dimensions and crystallographic orientation, but also on sample quality and purity, shell/matrix material and annealing treatment. It is possible to observe the oscillations of kinetic parameters, due to size-quantized energy spectrum on the individual cylin- drical nanowire under certain external influence, for exam- ple, by impurity doping or deformation. The aim of this study was to study transport coefficients of individual bismuth nanowires under condition of QSE by applying uniaxial stress for tuning the electronic struc- ture and inducing band overlap changes. According to the condition of QSE realization ( ~ d λ), an oscillating be- havior in transport coefficient of Bi samples is expected at diameters below 100 nm. One should note that uniaxial strain in Bi NWs promotes the increases of band overlap between L-electron pockets and T-holes pocket at constant band gap, in contrast to its decrease under QSE. 2. Experimental methods and samples Long Pyrex-coated Bi wires were fabricated using the same improved variant of the Taylor method. This method, which is presently known as the glass-coated melt spinning method, consists in the melting of a metal in a glass tube by rf induction heating and drawing a glass capillary in which the molten metal is entrapped. The wire axis is at an angle of about 19° with the bisec- tor axis C1 in the bisector-trigonal plane C1C3. This orien- tation is the same as that observed in Bi nanowire arrays by Z. Zhang et al. [1]. Due to high elasticity of Pyrex capilla- ries, the limit of elastic stretching of the glass-coated Bi wires attains ε = 3.5% (in comparison for Bi whiskers ε = = 2.0 % [13] and for bulk Bi samples ε = 0.4% [14]). Due to small dimensions of glass-coated NWs, it was not possi- ble to apply mechanical loading directly to them. For the measurements under uniaxial strain, the glass-coated wires with d = 70–150 nm and the length 0L = 2.0–3.0 mm were mounted on an elastic bronze ring in a special insert with stretching device similar to the method, used for whiskers [13]. The stretching was directed along the wire axis, i.e., close to the bisector axis C1. The measurements of resis- tance were performed using two-probe method. Resistance variation was noted as ( )0 0/ /R R R R RΔ = − where 0R is the value of resistance in non-deformed state. Strain var- iation was noted as ( ) 0 0/L L Lε = − where 0L is the length of the wire in non-deformed state. Electrical con- tacts to the wire ends were made by Wood’s alloy. Low dc currents (0.1 A 1 A)Iμ μ≤ ≤ were used to make sure that the voltage of the sample was a linear function of the ap- plied current. 3. Results and discussion The studies of the strain dependences of the resistance ( )R ε at 4.2 K for wires with various diameters revealed the oscillating dependence of the resistance on applied deformation in wires with a diameter of 90 nm subjected to thermal annealing (Fig. 1). Since an oscillating behavior in transport coefficient of Bi wires is expected at diameters below 100 nm, we can suppose that observed oscillations are due to QSE. To our surprise, non-discernable and non- reproducible quantum oscillations on R(ε) were observed in the thinner NWs with a diameter of 70 nm. The depen- dences of resistance versus uniaxial strain ( )R ε for Bi wires with the diameters d ≥ 100 nm do not exhibits any oscillations and is similar to the one observed by us for Fig. 1. Relative variation of the resistance as a function of applied strain for 90 nm Bi nanowire measured at 4.2 K and 77 K. 4.2 K 77 K � R /R , % 40 30 20 10 0 –10 –20 –30 –40 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 Strain, % E. Condrea and A. Gilewski 318 Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur, 2010, v. 36, No. 3 thicker wires [15] and whiskers [13]. Figure 2 shows the temperature dependences of the electrical resistance ( )R T for Bi NWs with various diame- ters. Observed ( )R T dependences are consistent with pre- vious results for Bi wires [12] and Bi nanowire arrays [1]. Curve 2 in Fig. 2 presents ( )R T dependence for a 90 nm NW after thermal treatment. History of the thermal treat- ment was not simple. Various variants of thermal treatment were tested and the optimal one was chosen. The NWs were annealed at 180° C for 10 h under vacuum with slow cooling back to room temperature. An evident increase of value of a residual resistance ratio (RRR) for the 90 nm wire after thermal treatment testified to an improved quali- ty of annealed NWs. This supports the idea that a semicon- ducting behavior of ( )R T does not imply that a band gap opens even in the thin wires, a negative TCR may be rather an evidence of large defect density inside the as-prepared wires. If we attribute the presence of oscillations on ( )R ε in Fig. 1 to the manifestation of QSE, in addition to the main condition ( ~d λ) for QSE occurrence [4], we should con- sider some important requirements such as a small washing out of the discrete energy spectrum: /h Eτ << Δ , (2 ) and a small temperature smearing: kT E<<Δ , (3) where τ is the relaxation time, taking into account scatter- ing both in volume and on the surface; EΔ is the distance between discrete energy subbands. Inequality (2) means a high mobility and/or large free path length for carriers - involved in transport. It seems that all the requirements for QSE are satisfied for annealed 90 nm wire at T = 4.2 K. The observed resistance oscillations were reproduced on all the wires with a diameter of 90 nm from the series of samples subjected to thermal annealing. As one can see from Fig. 1, the ( )R ε dependence at 4.2 K exhibits a mod- ulating profile consisting of two sets of oscillations with different periods determined by different groups of carri- ers. First, we supposed that two different periods of oscilla- tions are due to contribution of electrons and holes to elec- trical conductivity. It is known that difference in the pe- riods of electron and hole quantum oscillations results from the anisotropic properties of Bi. A rough evaluation of possible periods of quantum oscilla- tions in 90 nm bismuth wire was made by formula (1). The value of effective transverse mass of heavy and light electrons was used from the model of the subband structure calculated in [1] for the Bi nanowire arrays with the same crystal orienta- tion, corresponding to [1011]. This is our case where three groups of carriers operate: heavy electrons from two equiva- Fig. 2. Temperature dependence of resistance normalized to the resistance at 300 K for as-prepared Bi NWs: d = 90 nm (1), d = = 120 nm (3) and thermal annealed: d = 90 nm (2), d = 120 nm (4), d = 150 nm (5). R (T )/ R (3 0 0 ) 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 1 2 3 4 5 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 T, K Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of Bi band structure at L-point and T-point near Fermi energy level: for bulk Bi (a); for 90 nm Bi NW calculated in model [1] in non-deformed state (b); a possi- ble band structure for 90 nm NW at the strain ε ≥ 0.96% (c). 15 meV –38 meV BA C EF 44 meV –22 meV BA C –16 meV 52 meV L T 44 meV BA C 52 meV 19 meV a b c L T L T EF EF Quantum oscillations of resistivity in bismuth nanowires Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur, 2010, v. 36, No. 3 319 lent pockets A and B, light electrons from pockets C, and heavy T-holes. According to [1], as the diameter of Bi nano- wire arrays decreases below 100 nm, the band overlap be- tween light and heavy electron pockets and T-hole pocket decreases in the different ways, thus resulting in the splitting of the L-point band edge as shown in Fig. 3,b. In this model, the band edge energy of each subband is determined by the average transverse effective mass, approximated by the ap- propriate effective cyclotron mass. The values of effective masses calculated by authors of [1] are: * 00.00212m m= and * 00.00372m m= for light and heavy electrons, respectively. Estimated periods for our 90 nm NW are: 1dΔ = 42.2 nm; 2dΔ = 25.9 nm and 3dΔ = 16.0 nm for light and heavy elec- trons and holes, respectively. Coming back to measured quantum oscillations of resis- tance (Fig. 1) we note the period ratio of 2:1 for two set of observed oscillations. Two of calculated periods 42.2 nm and 25.9 nm satisfy approximatively the ratio 2:1. The calculated value of 16.6 nm for hole period is overesti- mated as a result of using the value for hole transverse mass * 00.21m m= available for bulk Bi. The absence of quantum oscillations from holes can be caused by its small period and non-detectable amplitude versus background. Thus, we can suppose that quantum oscillations with large amplitude and period of 42.2 nm occur from the light elec- trons with smallest effective mass, and quantum oscilla- tions with weak amplitude and period of 25.9 nm occur from heavy electrons from pockets A and B. A significant amplitude (38%) of resistance quantum oscillations with 1dΔ = 42.2 nm is due to the low quantum numbers of the subbands located below Fermi energy level in the pocket C with light electrons. The vanishing of these oscillations at the deformation higher than 1% is suggestive of a change in the Fermi surface topology, known as an electronic to- pological transition (ETT) or Lifshitz transition. As a result of our previous investigations [15] of the changes in the Fermi surface topology under stress by means of Shubni- kov-de Haas oscillation measurements, we have found the upward shift of the light electron pocket C relative to the other two pockets A and B up to its complete vanish at a high strain. The shifted electron pocket is schematically indicated by the dashed line in Fig. 3,c. Due to the continu- ing increase in the band overlap between L-electron pock- ets (A and B) and T-hole pocket, quantum oscillations with a period of 25.9 nm are detected at a strain higher than 1%. If we attribute the presence of the oscillations on ( )R ε to the QSE manifestation, it is natural to make a brief analysis of correlation between the value of uniaxi- al strain and the period of observed oscillations dΔ in 90 nm wires. Though the precise interrelation between applied uniaxial strain and dΔ is not known, we try to follow the influence of strain on the Fermi level shifting through quantized subbands in electron pockets. In terms of previous results on ETT with the vanishing of one electron pocket, the work of extension of ε = 0.96% should be on the order of the energy shift of electron pocket C with strain. Since the measurements were made in the elastic deformation range, we may use the value of the elastic modulus for bulk Bi crystal along the bisector direction; thus, it is possible to determine the tensile load dependence P on the value of extension 0/L Lε = Δ which is approximatively P = 0.38 GPa at ε = 0.96%. A rough estimation of value of the energy shift was made by using the values of shifting rate /dE dF of elec- tron pockets under anisotropic deformation along the bi- sector direction for bulk Bi crystals calculated by authors in [17], which are: /dE dF = 0.5 meV/kg for pocket C and /dE dF = –0.6 meV/ kg for pockets A and B. In our case, the value of energy shift was determined at a strain of 0.96%, where quantum oscillations with large period dis- appear. Calculated value is dE ≈ 19 meV. Because of some involved calculation uncertainties, the value of dE ≈ ≈ 19 meV is rather appreciative; nevertheless, it is reason- able of the same order with value of Fermi energy level and of the band overlap (16 meV) for light electron pocket from the model of electronic band structure for 90 nm Bi NWs, advanced by authors of [1]. 4. Conclusions Systematic measurements of the resistance of bismuth nanowires with several diameters and different quality re- veal oscillations on the dependence of resistance under uniaxial strain at T = 4.2 K. Amplitude of oscillations is significant (38%) at helium temperature and becomes smearing at T = 77 K. Observed oscillations originate from quantum size effect. The absence of quantum size oscillations in resistance dependence for 70 nm wires can be explained partially by scarce number of light electrons responsible for oscilla- tions with decreasing diameter [1] and partially by imper- fection of the nanowires. A simple evaluation of period of oscillations allows us to identify the groups of carriers involved in transport. Calculated periods of 42.2 and 25.9 nm satisfy approxima- tively the ratio 2:1 for two experimentally observed sets of oscillations from light and heavy electrons. The importance of the quantum size effect manifesta- tion in the resistance dependence on strain goes beyond studying the structure of electron spectrum, it can also be applied to investigate the spectrum of phonons. With a view to elucidate some aspects of the practical use of na- nowires, we plan the further investigations under strain of the thermopower, which at low temperature may be due to the diffusive or phonon drag mode of carrier interaction. 1. Z. Zhang, X. Sun, M.S. Dresselhaus, J.Y. Ying, and J. Heremans Phys. Rev. B61, 4850 (2000). 2. Y.-M. Lin, X. Sun, and M.S. Dresselhaus, Prys. Rev. B62 4680 (2000). E. Condrea and A. Gilewski 320 Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur, 2010, v. 36, No. 3 3. V.B. Sandomirskii, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 52, 158 (1967). [Sov. Phys. JETP 25, 101(1967)]. 4. B.A. Tavger and V.Ya. Demikhovskii, Usp. Fiz. Nauk 96, 61 (1968) [Sov. Phys. Usp. 11, 644 (1969)]. 5. E.F. Schulte, Surf. Sci. 55 427 (1976). 6. Yu.F. Ogrin, V.N. Lutskii, and M.I. Elinson, Pis’ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 3, 114 (1966) [Sov. Phys. JETP Lett. 3, 71 (1966)]. 7. E.P. Fesenko, Fiz. Tverd. Tela 11, 2647 (1969) [Sov. Phys. Solid State 11, 2135 (1970)]. 8. E.I. Bukhshtab, Yu.V. Nikitin, and Yu.F. Komnik Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 3, 755 (1977) [Sov. J. Low Temp. Phys. 3, 366 (1977)]. 9. A.V. Butenko, Dm. Shvarts, V.B. Sandomirskii, and Y. Schlesinger, Physika B284–288, 1942 (2000). 10. N.B. Brandt, E.S. Itskevich, and N.Ya. Minina, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 47, 455 (1954). 11. V. N. Lutskii, Phys. Status Solidi A1, 199 (1970). 12. T.W. Cornelius, M.E. Toinil Molares, R. Neumann, and S. Karin, J. Appl. Phys. 100, 114307 (2006). 13. Yu.P. Gaidukov, N.P. Danilova, and M.V. Shcherbina– Samoilova, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 77, 2125 (1979) [Sov. Phys. JETP 50, 1018 (1979)]. 14. O.P. Hansen, I.F. Mikhail, M.Yu. Lavrenyuk, and N.Ya. Minina, J. Low Temp. Phys. 95, 481 (1994). 15. P.P. Bodiul, V.F. Garabazhin, E.P. Condrea, and A.A. Nikolaeva, Czech. J. Phys. 46, 2417 (1996). 16. M. Gurvitch, J. Low Temp. Phys. 38, 777 (1980). 17. E.V. Bogdanov, M.Yu. Lavrenyuk, and N.Ya. Minina, Fiz. Tehn. Pol. 22, 1348 (1988). .