High mobility oxides: Engineered structures to overcome intrinsic performance limitations of transparent conducting oxides

Abstract

After a decade of intensive materials discovery and optimization, no single transparent conducting oxide has exceeded the intrinsic electrical performance limits suggested in 1992. High mobility oxide (HMO) structures are proposed as an alternative design that can surpass single material performance. Based on oxides with different electron affinities, direct simulations indicate that HMOs could obtain conductivity values >4.2×104 S/cm. The conductivity is very sensitive to the quantum well thickness, and the individual layers must be <5 nm thick in order for HMO structures to surpass the intrinsic limits of a single material. Thus, a high degree of control over crystal structure and interface quality would be required to realize these performance levels.