Engineering Electrical Transport by Implantation-Induced Defects in CrN Films Without Affecting Thermal Conductivity

Hugo Bouteiller; Charlotte Poterie; Razvan Burcea; Danièle Fournier; Younès Ezzahri; Sylvain Dubois; Per Eklund; Arnaud le Febvrier; Jean François Barbot

doi:10.1002/admi.202500436

Engineering Electrical Transport by Implantation-Induced Defects in CrN Films Without Affecting Thermal Conductivity

Hugo Bouteiller
, Charlotte Poterie
, Razvan Burcea
, Danièle Fournier
, Younès Ezzahri
, Sylvain Dubois
, Per Eklund
, Arnaud le Febvrier
, Jean François Barbot

Applied Microanalysis and Thermophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The transport properties of CrN thin films deposited on sapphire have been tailored through structural modifications induced by cumulative argon implantation. As-grown samples experience the typical structural transition in CrN films from orthorhombic at low temperature to cubic above the Néel temperature (≈280 K) and exhibit a metallic-like conduction in both phases. With increasing implantation dose, the conduction mode shifts to a semiconductor-like behavior in both phases, albeit at different damage levels. Analysis of the results suggests that hopping conduction becomes dominant beyond a given damage threshold. The results highlight a promising correlation between defect engineering and conduction mechanisms, offering valuable insights into the versatile electrical properties of CrN films. These implantation-induced defects scatter carriers, leading to a decrease in their mobility. As the implantation dose increases, the defect landscape evolves, modifying the density of states. However, up to a dose of 0.050 dpa, no significant influence on phonon scattering is observed. This approach demonstrates that ion implantation enables precise tuning of CrN's electrical properties without affecting thermal conductivity, offering valuable insights into defect engineering in transition metal nitrides and underscoring its potential for transport properties decorrelation.

Original language	English
Article number	e00436
Journal	Advanced Materials Interfaces
Volume	12
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202500436
State	Published - Nov 22 2025

Funding

This work was supported by the French government program ‘Investissements d'Avenir’ (EUR INTREE ‒ reference ANR-18-EURE-0010, LABEX INTERACTIFS ‒ reference ANR-11-LABEX-0017-01, and UP-SQUARED ‒ reference ANR-21-EXES-0013). The authors also acknowledge funding from the Swedish Research Council (VR) under Project No. 2021-03826, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation through the Wallenberg Academy Fellows program (grant no. KAW 2020.0196), the Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linköping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU No. 2009 00971), and the Swedish Energy Agency under project 46519-1. Accelerator operation was supported by Swedish Research Council VR-RFI (Contract No. 2019-00191). Research sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy. Research support was provided by the University of Tennessee Oak Ridge Innovation Institute. This work was supported by the French government program ‘Investissements d'Avenir’ (EUR INTREE ‒ reference ANR‐18‐EURE‐0010, LABEX INTERACTIFS ‒ reference ANR‐11‐LABEX‐0017‐01, and UP‐SQUARED ‒ reference ANR‐21‐EXES‐0013). The authors also acknowledge funding from the Swedish Research Council (VR) under Project No. 2021‐03826, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation through the Wallenberg Academy Fellows program (grant no. KAW 2020.0196), the Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linköping University (Faculty Grant SFO‐Mat‐LiU No. 2009 00971), and the Swedish Energy Agency under project 46519‐1. Accelerator operation was supported by Swedish Research Council VR‐RFI (Contract No. 2019‐00191). Research sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT‐Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy. Research support was provided by the University of Tennessee Oak Ridge Innovation Institute.

Keywords

defects
electrical properties
ion implantation
thermal conductivity
thin films

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10.1002/admi.202500436

Cite this

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title = "Engineering Electrical Transport by Implantation-Induced Defects in CrN Films Without Affecting Thermal Conductivity",

abstract = "The transport properties of CrN thin films deposited on sapphire have been tailored through structural modifications induced by cumulative argon implantation. As-grown samples experience the typical structural transition in CrN films from orthorhombic at low temperature to cubic above the N{\'e}el temperature (≈280 K) and exhibit a metallic-like conduction in both phases. With increasing implantation dose, the conduction mode shifts to a semiconductor-like behavior in both phases, albeit at different damage levels. Analysis of the results suggests that hopping conduction becomes dominant beyond a given damage threshold. The results highlight a promising correlation between defect engineering and conduction mechanisms, offering valuable insights into the versatile electrical properties of CrN films. These implantation-induced defects scatter carriers, leading to a decrease in their mobility. As the implantation dose increases, the defect landscape evolves, modifying the density of states. However, up to a dose of 0.050 dpa, no significant influence on phonon scattering is observed. This approach demonstrates that ion implantation enables precise tuning of CrN's electrical properties without affecting thermal conductivity, offering valuable insights into defect engineering in transition metal nitrides and underscoring its potential for transport properties decorrelation.",

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AU - Poterie, Charlotte

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AU - Fournier, Danièle

AU - Ezzahri, Younès

AU - Dubois, Sylvain

AU - Eklund, Per

AU - le Febvrier, Arnaud

AU - Barbot, Jean François

PY - 2025/11/22

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N2 - The transport properties of CrN thin films deposited on sapphire have been tailored through structural modifications induced by cumulative argon implantation. As-grown samples experience the typical structural transition in CrN films from orthorhombic at low temperature to cubic above the Néel temperature (≈280 K) and exhibit a metallic-like conduction in both phases. With increasing implantation dose, the conduction mode shifts to a semiconductor-like behavior in both phases, albeit at different damage levels. Analysis of the results suggests that hopping conduction becomes dominant beyond a given damage threshold. The results highlight a promising correlation between defect engineering and conduction mechanisms, offering valuable insights into the versatile electrical properties of CrN films. These implantation-induced defects scatter carriers, leading to a decrease in their mobility. As the implantation dose increases, the defect landscape evolves, modifying the density of states. However, up to a dose of 0.050 dpa, no significant influence on phonon scattering is observed. This approach demonstrates that ion implantation enables precise tuning of CrN's electrical properties without affecting thermal conductivity, offering valuable insights into defect engineering in transition metal nitrides and underscoring its potential for transport properties decorrelation.

AB - The transport properties of CrN thin films deposited on sapphire have been tailored through structural modifications induced by cumulative argon implantation. As-grown samples experience the typical structural transition in CrN films from orthorhombic at low temperature to cubic above the Néel temperature (≈280 K) and exhibit a metallic-like conduction in both phases. With increasing implantation dose, the conduction mode shifts to a semiconductor-like behavior in both phases, albeit at different damage levels. Analysis of the results suggests that hopping conduction becomes dominant beyond a given damage threshold. The results highlight a promising correlation between defect engineering and conduction mechanisms, offering valuable insights into the versatile electrical properties of CrN films. These implantation-induced defects scatter carriers, leading to a decrease in their mobility. As the implantation dose increases, the defect landscape evolves, modifying the density of states. However, up to a dose of 0.050 dpa, no significant influence on phonon scattering is observed. This approach demonstrates that ion implantation enables precise tuning of CrN's electrical properties without affecting thermal conductivity, offering valuable insights into defect engineering in transition metal nitrides and underscoring its potential for transport properties decorrelation.

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KW - ion implantation

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Engineering Electrical Transport by Implantation-Induced Defects in CrN Films Without Affecting Thermal Conductivity

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