Increased hole mobility in anti-ThCr2Si2-type La2O2Bi co-sintered with alkaline earth metal oxides for oxygen intercalation and hole carrier doping

Metallic anti-ThCr2Si2-type RE2O2Bi (RE = rare earth) with Bi square nets show superconductivity while insulating La2O2Bi shows high hole mobility, by expanding the c-axis length through oxygen intercalation. In this study, alkaline earth metal oxides (CaO, SrO and BaO) were co-sintered with La2O2Bi. CaO and BaO served as oxygen intercalants without the incorporation of Ca and Ba in La2O2Bi. On the other hand, SrO served not only as an oxygen intercalant but also as a hole dopant via Sr substitution for La in La2O2Bi. The oxygen intercalation and hole doping resulted in the expansion of the c-axis length, contributing to the improved electrical conduction. In addition, the hole mobility was enhanced up to 150 cm2 V-1 s-1 in La2O2Bi, which is almost double the mobility in a previous study.