Solution Processable CrN Thin Films: Thickness-Dependent Electrical Transport Properties

Abstract

Thickness is a very important parameter with which to control the microstructures, along with physical properties in transition-metal nitride thin films. In work presented here, CrN films with different thicknesses (from 26 to 130 nm) were grown by chemical solution deposition. The films are pure phase and polycrystalline. Thickness dependence of microstructures and electrical transport behavior were studied. With the increase of films thickness, grain size and nitrogen content are increased, while resistivity, zero-field sensitivity and magnetoresistance are decreased. In the temperature range of 5–350 K, all samples exhibited semiconductor-like properties with dρ/dT < 0. For the range above and below the Néel temperature, the resistivity can be fitted by the thermal activation model and the two-dimensional weak localization (2D-WL) model, respectively. The ultra-low magnetoresistance at a low temperature under high magnetic fields with a large zero-field sensitivity was observed in the CrN thin films. The zero-field sensitivity can be effectively tuned to 10−2 K−1 at 5 K with a magnetoresistance of less than 1% at 2 K under 14 T by reasonably controlling the thickness.

Structural, Wetting and Magnetic Properties of Sputtered Fe70Pd30 Thin Film with Nanostructured Surface Induced by Dealloying Process

“…The surface morphology of both as-deposited samples is shown in Figure 2 a,b; the investigated area in the SEM images is the same to make easier the comparison. The S50 film surface appears conformal constituted by small, irregularly shaped and uniformly distributed grains with well-defined boundaries which are figured out as darker line around the grains [ 50 , 51 ]. The S50 sample cross-section observation (see Figure 2 c) shows a homogeneous and dense growth of the thin film along the entire thickness.…”

High‐Performance Reticular Porous Perovskite Coating with Wide‐Spectrum Absorption for Photothermal Conversion

“…On the other hand, the Cr 2p 3/2 peaks shift toward the lower energy level with increasing doping concentration of Ca 2+ (Figure 1f), which can be attributed to the electron screening effect [ 30 ] and relaxation effect. [ 31 ] It is well known that the electron binding energy is determined by the Coulomb force between the electron and the nucleus and the screening effect of other electrons, and the formation of electron holes can enhance the electron screening effect, resulting in the decrease in photoelectron binding energy. The electron relaxation can make partial electrons return to the ground state, accompanying the release of relaxation energy.…”

Structural and electrical properties of (Cr1−x ,V x )N thin films epitaxially grown on MgO(001) substrates

“…2) The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity in CrN has been reported to exhibit contradictory conductivity. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Bhobe et al reported that bulk CrN transitions from an FM semiconductor to an AFM metal below T N , suggesting Mott-Hubbard-type semiconductor behavior. 5) By contrast, Inumaru et al found a discontinuity at the T N in the resistivity of CrN thin films grown on MgO(001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), indicating metallic behavior.…”