Synthesis, structure and electrical properties of a new tin vanadium selenide

Abstract The turbostratically disordered misfit layer compound (SnSe) 1.15 VSe 2 was synthesized and structurally characterized. Electrical transport measurements suggest this compound undergoes a charge or spin density wave (CDW or SDW) transition, which has not been observed in previous misfit layer compounds. The (SnSe) 1.15 VSe 2 compound, created through the modulated elemental reactants technique, contains highly oriented intergrowths of SnSe bilayers and VSe 2 structured Se–V–Se trilayers with abrupt interfaces between them perpendicular to the c -axis. X-ray diffraction data and transmission electron microscope images show that each constituent has in-plane crystallinity but that there is a random rotational disorder between the constituent layers. Temperature-dependent electrical resistivity data and Hall measurements are consistent with (SnSe) 1.15 VSe 2 being a metal, however an abrupt increase in the resistivity occurs between 30 and 100 K. The carrier concentration decreases by approximately 1 carrier per vanadium atom during this temperature interval.