Giant spontaneous polarization in zincblende III-V semiconductors

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Cañas, Jesus, Yassine, Mohamed, Ambacher, Oliver
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Cañas, Jesus
Yassine, Mohamed
Ambacher, Oliver
author_facet Cañas, Jesus
Yassine, Mohamed
Ambacher, Oliver
contents The discovery of ferroelectricity in wurtzite nitrides has paved the way for measuring and understanding spontaneous polarization in III-V semiconductors. However, the calculation of polarization effects at heterointerfaces - crucial for numerous electronic and photonic applications - remains a topic of debate. The need for a reference structure to calculate spontaneous polarization has led to discussions over whether to use the zincblende or layered hexagonal structures as the reference for wurtzite crystals. In this work, we argue that the layered hexagonal structure is not only a better reference due to its vanishing formal polarization but also the only physically correct choice for the wurtzite system. This follows from the fact that spontaneous polarization is rigorously defined through the ferroelectric switching. Applying this definition, we extend our analysis to III-V zincblende semiconductors and reveal that their spontaneous polarization is approximately three times larger than that of wurtzite, thereby refuting the longstanding assumption that it is zero. Through this example, we illustrate that spontaneous polarization is not inherently linked to charge density at interfaces.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_19778
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Giant spontaneous polarization in zincblende III-V semiconductors
Cañas, Jesus
Yassine, Mohamed
Ambacher, Oliver
Materials Science
The discovery of ferroelectricity in wurtzite nitrides has paved the way for measuring and understanding spontaneous polarization in III-V semiconductors. However, the calculation of polarization effects at heterointerfaces - crucial for numerous electronic and photonic applications - remains a topic of debate. The need for a reference structure to calculate spontaneous polarization has led to discussions over whether to use the zincblende or layered hexagonal structures as the reference for wurtzite crystals. In this work, we argue that the layered hexagonal structure is not only a better reference due to its vanishing formal polarization but also the only physically correct choice for the wurtzite system. This follows from the fact that spontaneous polarization is rigorously defined through the ferroelectric switching. Applying this definition, we extend our analysis to III-V zincblende semiconductors and reveal that their spontaneous polarization is approximately three times larger than that of wurtzite, thereby refuting the longstanding assumption that it is zero. Through this example, we illustrate that spontaneous polarization is not inherently linked to charge density at interfaces.
title Giant spontaneous polarization in zincblende III-V semiconductors
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.19778