Reversible switching between p- and n-type conduction in the semiconductor Ag10Te4Br3

Semiconductors are key materials in modern electronics and are widely used to build, for instance, transistors in integrated circuits as well as thermoelectric materials for energy conversion, and there is a tremendous interest in the development and improvement of novel materials and technologies to increase the performance of electronic devices and thermoelectrics. Tetramorphic Ag(10)Te(4)Br(3) is a semiconductor capable of switching its electrical properties by a simple change of temperature. The combination of high silver mobility, a small non-stoichiometry range and an internal redox process in the tellurium substructure causes a thermopower drop of 1,400 microV K(-1), in addition to a thermal diffusivity in the range of organic polymers. The capability to reversibly switch semiconducting properties from ionic to electronic conduction in one single compound simply by virtue of temperature enables novel electronic devices such as semiconductor switches.