Sousanis Andreas, Smet Philippe F, Poelman Dirk
Lumilab, Department of Solid State Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S1, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
Materials (Basel). 2017 Aug 16;10(8):953. doi: 10.3390/ma10080953.
In this review, we give an overview of the properties and applications of samarium monosulfide, SmS, which has gained considerable interest as a switchable material. It shows a pressure-induced phase transition from the semiconducting to the metallic state by polishing, and it switches back to the semiconducting state by heating. The material also shows a magnetic transition, from the paramagnetic state to an antiferromagnetically ordered state. The switching behavior between the semiconducting and metallic states could be exploited in several applications, such as high density optical storage and memory materials, thermovoltaic devices, infrared sensors and more. We discuss the electronic, optical and magnetic properties of SmS, its switching behavior, as well as the thin film deposition techniques which have been used, such as e-beam evaporation and sputtering. Moreover, applications and possible ideas for future work on this material are presented. Our scope is to present the properties of SmS, which were mainly measured in bulk crystals, while at the same time we describe the possible deposition methods that will push the study of SmS to nanoscale dimensions, opening an intriguing range of applications for low-dimensional, pressure-induced semiconductor-metal transition compounds.
在本综述中，我们概述了一硫化钐（SmS）的性质和应用，它作为一种可切换材料已引起了广泛关注。通过抛光，它会发生压力诱导的从半导体态到金属态的相变，而通过加热又会变回半导体态。该材料还表现出磁转变，从顺磁态转变为反铁磁有序态。半导体态和金属态之间的切换行为可应用于多种领域，如高密度光存储和记忆材料、热光伏器件、红外传感器等。我们讨论了SmS的电子、光学和磁性质、其切换行为，以及所使用的薄膜沉积技术，如电子束蒸发和溅射。此外，还介绍了该材料的应用以及未来工作的可能思路。我们的目的是介绍主要在块状晶体中测量的SmS的性质，同时描述可能的沉积方法，这些方法将推动SmS的研究进入纳米尺度，为低维、压力诱导的半导体 - 金属转变化合物开启一系列有趣的应用。
