A new research paper titled “Thickness-dependent polaron crossover in tellurene” was published by researchers from Rice University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, MIT, Argonne National Laboratory, ORNL, Purdue University, and Stanford University.
Abstract
“Polarons, quasiparticles from electron-phonon coupling, are crucial for material properties including high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance. However, scarce studies have investigated polaron formation in low-dimensional materials with phonon polarity and electronic structure transitions. In this work, we studied polarons of tellurene, composed of chiral Te chains. The frequency and linewidth of the A1 phonon, which becomes increasingly polar for thinner tellurene, change abruptly for thickness below 10 nanometers, where field-effect mobility drops rapidly. These phonon and transport signatures, combined with phonon polarity and band structure, suggest a crossover from large polarons in bulk tellurium to small polarons in few-layer tellurene. Effective field theory considering phonon renormalization in the small-polaron regime semiquantitatively reproduces the phonon hardening and broadening effects. This polaron crossover stems from the quasi–one-dimensional nature of tellurene, where modulation of interchain distance reduces dielectric screening and promotes electron-phonon coupling. Our work provides valuable insights into the influence of polarons on phononic, electronic, and structural properties in low-dimensional materials.”
Find the technical paper here and related university article here. Published January 2025.
Kunyan Zhang et al. ,Thickness-dependent polaron crossover in tellurene. Sci. Adv.11,eads4763(2025).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.ads4763
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