ArticleQuasi one-dimensional van der Waals gold selenide with strong interchain interaction and giant magnetoresistance
Graphical abstract
Quasi 1D gold selenide (AuSe) possesses highly anisotropic crystal structure, excellent electrical conductivity, giant magnetoresistance, and unusual reentrant metallic behavior. We found that AuSe exhibits a near quadratic nonsaturating giant magnetoresistance of 1841% with the magnetic field perpendicular to its in-plane. We also observe unusual reentrant metallic behavior, which is caused by the carrier mismatch in the multiband transport.
Introduction
Two-dimensional (2D) materials usually exhibit isotropic in-plane physical properties. However, some 2D materials, e.g., black phosphorus and rhenium disulfide, have shown anisotropically physical properties because of their low in-plane symmetry [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], which is a result of strong anisotropy in their chemical bonds. The asymmetric atomic arrangements in these 2D materials give rise to anisotropic electrical mobility, phonon vibrational modes and photoemission, enabling the design of new electronic and optoelectronic devices that cannot be easily realized in isotropic materials. Researchers have demonstrated these anisotropic 2D materials for logic inverter, light polarizers, polarization detectors, piezoelectric applications, and magnetic sensors, etc. [2], [3], [7], [8]. For the mostly studied 2D anisotropic materials, the in-plane atoms are typically connected by strong chemical bonding.
Recently, researchers have identified some emerging types of quasi one-dimensional (1D) van der Waals (vdWs) materials that are stacked by atomic chains with intrachain chemical bonding and interchain van der Waals interaction [6], [7], [9]. Layered selenium and tellurium are quasi 1D vdWs semiconductors, exhibiting extraordinarily high carrier mobility, high optical absorption, intrinsic anisotropy, tunable bandgap, and strong environmental stability [3], [9]. Quasi 1D AuSe atomic chains are connected by covalent bonding along the axial direction. These 1D AuSe atomic chains can be stacked together, forming 1D needle-like nanoribbon or 2D nanosheet structure [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. The difference between strong intrachain chemical bonding and interchain interaction leads to high anisotropy in the 1D vdWs material, resulting in thoroughly different properties compared with typical 2D layered materials and 1D nanotubes/nanowires [18].
In this work, we investigate the quasi 1D vdWs AuSe using optical spectroscopy, electrical characterization and magnetotransport measurement together with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Polarized-resolved Raman spectra exhibit anisotropic vibration behaviors of AuSe. By electrical measurement, we find that 1D vdWs AuSe shows metallic behaviors with high in-plane conductivity of 7.5 × 105 S m−1, which is comparable to graphene and even some metals. Our DFT calculations show that AuSe is a topologically trivial semimetal with compensated electrons and holes. The longitudinal magnetoresistance of AuSe exhibits a near quadratic non-saturating giant magnetoresistance (GMR). The upturn and reentrant metallic behavior can be observed, and can be understood as a result of the carrier mismatch at low temperature. The distinct magnetoresistance (MR) characteristics along different directions of AuSe further verify its anisotropic properties. These studies identify AuSe as a new category of quasi 1D vdWs materials and a new candidate for the GMR and electron-hole compensation.
Section snippets
Device fabrication and electrical characterization
AuSe single crystals were purchased from HQ graphene. Crystals were cleaved into small pieces and transferred onto Scotch tape. The samples were transferred onto the Si substrate with 300-nm-thick SiO2 for Raman tests and device fabrication. The substrates were spin-coated with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) for subsequent electron beam lithography. Metal electrodes were deposited onto thin AuSe flakes by sequential electron-beam evaporation of Ti (10 nm) and Au
Structural and vibrational properties
AuSe possesses two different crystalline structures, namely, α-phase and β-phase, both of which belong to space group C2h. α-AuSe is a thermodynamically stable phase, while β-AuSe is a metastable phase [14], [17], [26]. In this work, we mainly focus on the α-phase AuSe. Fig. 1a shows the schematic view of atomic structure of bulk α-phase AuSe. There are two different coordination sites for Au atoms in AuSe, where one is linearly coordinated to two Se atoms, and the other is surrounded by four
Conclusions
In summary, we perform systematic investigation on quasi 1D metallic AuSe using optical spectroscopies, electrical characterization and magnetotransport measurement. The quasi 1D nature of AuSe makes it a highly anisotropic material in both optical and magnetic field. DFT calculations show that AuSe is a topologically trivial semimetal with compensated electrons and holes. The conductive of AuSe is comparable to Graphene and even some metals. GMR is observed in AuSe with upturn and reentrant
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (N_PolyU540/17), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (JCYJ20180507183424383), and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (G-SB79 and G-YBPS).
Author contributions
Yang Chai conceived the idea, supervised the project. Jingli Wang performed the experiments and analyzed the data. Jingsi Qiao and Wei Ji did the DFT calculation. Kang Xu, Jiewei Chen, Yuda Zhao, Bocheng Qiu and Ziyuan Lin assisted the structural characterization and
Jingli Wang received his Bachelor and Ph.D. degrees from Wuhan University in 2012 and 2017 respectively. Currently, he is a postdoc in Applied Physic at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests focus on nano devices fabrication, device interface engineering and low dimensional material properties.
References (40)
- et al.
The crystal structures of α-AuSe and β-AuSe
J Less Com Met
(1976) - et al.
Unravelling the structural properties of mixed-valence α-and β-AuSe nanostructures using XRD, TEM and XPS
Appl Surf Sci
(2018) - et al.
Few-layer tellurium: one-dimensional-like layered elementary semiconductor with striking physical properties
Sci Bull
(2018) - et al.
Anisotropic giant magnetoresistance in NbSb2
Sci Rep
(2014) - et al.
Modulation of large absolute photonic bandgaps in two-dimensional plasma photonic crystal containing anisotropic material
Appl Optics
(2016) - et al.
One-dimensional van der Waals material tellurium: Raman spectroscopy under strain and magneto-transport
Nano Lett
(2017) - et al.
Environmental stability of 2D anisotropic tellurium containing nanomaterials: anisotropic to isotropic transition
Nanoscale
(2017) - et al.
Anisotropic transverse magnetoresistance and Fermi surface in TaSb2
Sci Rep
(2018) - et al.
Topological phase transitions driven by strain in monolayer tellurium
Phys Rev B
(2018) - et al.
Field-effect transistors made from solution-grown two-dimensional tellurene
Nat Electron
(2018)
Controlled growth of a large-size 2D selenium nanosheet and its electronic and optoelectronic applications
ACS Nano
Production and the crystal structure of the intermetallic compounds AuSe
Z Metallkunde
Crystal structure of AuSe alloy phase
Z Metallkunde
Elucidating the structural properties of gold selenide nanostructures
New J Chem
Density functional study on adsorption of NO on AuSe (010) surface
Chin J Chem
Extraordinarily strong interlayer interaction in 2D layered PtS2
Adv Mater
Projector augmented-wave method
Phys Rev B
From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method
Phys Rev B
Cited by (8)
Electronic and crystal structures of α- and β- gold selenides
2022, Solid State CommunicationsCitation Excerpt :The 2D material research leading to the useful device is still in its early stage, and the performance is not yet standardized due to various instabilities [14–16]. Due to the different electronic structures in these anisotropic 2D materials, it produces anisotropic charge mobility, leading to new devices that are difficult to generate in isotropic materials [17]. These anisotropic 2D materials have been proved by researchers for use in polarization detectors, logic inverters, piezoelectric devices, magnetic sensors, and other applications [18–21].
Enhancement of the electrical properties of Au/MgSe/Au microwave resonators via pulsed laser welding of MgSe and Au nanosheets
2023, Applied Physics A: Materials Science and ProcessingStrong Interlayer Interaction for Engineering Two-Dimensional Materials
2022, Accounts of Materials ResearchHigh Breakdown Current Density in Quasi-1D van der Waals Layered Material Ta<inf>2</inf>NiSe<inf>7</inf>
2021, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Jingli Wang received his Bachelor and Ph.D. degrees from Wuhan University in 2012 and 2017 respectively. Currently, he is a postdoc in Applied Physic at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests focus on nano devices fabrication, device interface engineering and low dimensional material properties.
Jingsi Qiao received her Ph.D. degree in Physics from Renmin University of China in 2018. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Advanced 2D Materials and Graphene Research Centre of National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on the theoretical modeling of electronic, optical and vibrational properties for low-dimensional materials.
Yang Chai is an associate professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a member of Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences, and the vice president of Physical Society of Hong Kong. His current research interest includes low-dimensional materials for electron devices and energy applications.
- 1
These authors contributed equally to this work.