2020/10/29 by B. Salzmann, Björn Salzmann, Salzmann, B. +28 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #Atomic physics #Chemistry #Computational chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Density functional theory #Electrical resistivity and conductivity #Electronic structure #FOS: Physical sciences #High resolution #Inorganic Chemistry and Materials #Ion #Ionization #Ionization energy #Machine Learning in Materials Science #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Materials science #Nanotechnology #Physical chemistry #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Scanning tunneling microscope #Spectroscopy #Stoichiometry #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2010.15513
12 pages, 10 figures; Accepted for publication in Physical Review Materials
arxiv created 2020/10/29 · openalex publication_date 2020/10/29 · arxiv updated 2020/10/30 · openalex created_date 2020/11/09 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Over the past decades, investigations of the anomalous low-energy electronic properties of ZrTe5 have reached a wide array of conclusions. An open question is the growth method's impact on the stoichiometry of ZrTe5 samples, especially given the very small density of states near its chemical potential. Here we report on high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy measurements performed on samples grown via different methods. Using density functional theory calculations, we identify the most prevalent types of atomic defects on the surface of ZrTe5, namely Te vacancies and intercalated Zr atoms. Finally, we precisely quantify their density and outline their role as ionized defects in the anomalous resistivity of this material.