The 6th International Conference on Matter and Radiation at Extremes (ICMRE2023)

293 / 2023-04-25 21:39:49

Functional and superhard super-borides

High Pressure Physics and Materials Science > Functional materials and physics

Superhard semiconductors have been long sought after for electronic device applications enduring extreme conditions, such as astronautics, due to their intrinsic toughness, high thermal and chemical stability. Here, we report the superhard p-type semiconductor Al_2.69B₅₀ single crystal with the determined Vickers hardness around 40.5 GPa under the load of 0.49 N, which is one of the hardest semiconductor compounds that have been ever found. With the direct band gap of 2.3 eV, Al_2.69B₅₀ exhibits excellent optical transmittance (>90%), covering the visible range from 459 nm to 760 nm and part of the infrared range, and also shows the high intensity of the photon emission in the visible light. Al_2.69B₅₀ is very stable, thermally and chemically, with an ultra-low density of 2.52 g cm^-3 , allowing for further extension of its applications. Such an assembly of various excellent properties within one material has great implication for high power electronic design and applications. In addition, we will also introduce some other superborides, which exhibit both hard/superhard property and also muti-functionalities.