Issue 19, 2023

A simple chemical reduction approach to dope β-FeSi2 with boron and its comprehensive characterization

Abstract

β-FeSi2 has been doped with Boron via a novel and cost-effective chemical reduction of the glassy phase of [(Fe2O3 + 4SiO2 + B2O3 + FeBO3 + Fe2SiO4)] using Mg metal at 800 °C. Doped β-FeSi2 has been investigated via extensive characterization and detailed analysis using first-principles calculations. The reduction in the d-spacing as can be observed from the XRD peak shift as well as the blue shift of the β-Raman line along with the right shift of Si and Fe 2p peaks indicate the B doping. The Hall investigation basically demonstrates p-type conductivity. Hall parameters were also analyzed using thermal mobility and dual-band model. The temperature profile of RH demonstrates the contribution of shallow acceptor levels at low temperatures, whereas the deep acceptor level contributes at high temperatures. Dual-band investigation reveals a substantial increase in the Hall concentration with B doping due to the cumulative contribution of both deep and shallow acceptor levels. The low-temperature mobility profile exhibits phonon and ionized impurity scattering just above and below 75 K, respectively. Moreover, it demonstrates that holes in low-doped samples can be transported more easily than at higher B doping. From density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the origin of the dual-band model has been validated from the electronic structure of β-FeSi2. Further, the effects of Si and Fe vacancies and B doping on the electronic structure of β-FeSi2 have also been demonstrated. The charge transfer to the system due to B doping has indicated that an increase in doping leads to higher p-type characteristics.

Graphical abstract: A simple chemical reduction approach to dope β-FeSi2 with boron and its comprehensive characterization

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Jan 2023
Accepted
29 Mar 2023
First published
25 Apr 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2023,13, 12825-12843

A simple chemical reduction approach to dope β-FeSi2 with boron and its comprehensive characterization

S. Sen, D. Acharya, P. K. Guha, P. Banerji and P. Pramanik, RSC Adv., 2023, 13, 12825 DOI: 10.1039/D3RA00497J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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