Light-induced conversion of an insulating refractory oxide into a persistent electronic conductor

Katsuro Hayashi (), Satoru Matsuishi, Toshio Kamiya, Masahiro Hirano and Hideo Hosono
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Katsuro Hayashi: Japan Science and Technology Corporation
Satoru Matsuishi: Japan Science and Technology Corporation
Toshio Kamiya: Japan Science and Technology Corporation
Masahiro Hirano: Japan Science and Technology Corporation
Hideo Hosono: Japan Science and Technology Corporation

Nature, 2002, vol. 419, issue 6906, 462-465

Abstract: Abstract Materials that are good electrical conductors are not in general optically transparent, yet a combination of high conductivity and transparency is desirable for many emerging opto-electronic applications1,2,3,4,5,6. To this end, various transparent oxides composed of transition or post-transition metals (such as indium tin oxide) are rendered electrically conducting by ion doping1,2,3,4,5,6. But such an approach does not work for the abundant transparent oxides of the main-group metals. Here we demonstrate a process by which the transparent insulating oxide 12CaO·7Al2O3 (refs 7–13) can be converted into an electrical conductor. H- ions are incorporated into the subnanometre-sized cages of the oxide by a thermal treatment in a hydrogen atmosphere; subsequent irradiation of the material with ultraviolet light results in a conductive state that persists after irradiation ceases. The photo-activated material exhibits moderate electrical conductivity (∼0.3 S cm-1) at room temperature, with visible light absorption losses of only one per cent for 200-nm-thick films. We suggest that this concept can be applied to other main-group metal oxides, for the direct optical writing of conducting wires in insulating transparent media and the formation of a high-density optical memory.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/nature01053

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