Hot-wire substoichiometric tungsten oxide films deposited in hydrogen environment with n-type conductivity

Substoichiometric tungsten oxide nanostructured films were synthesized by a hot-wire deposition technique in hydrogen-rich environment and characterized for their structural and electrical properties. A semiconducting behaviour was identified, allowing n-type conductivity even at room temperature which is an important result since it is well known that fully stoichiometric tungsten trioxide is nearly an insulator. Current–voltage characteristics for various temperatures were measured for tungsten oxide/Si heterostructures and analysed using proper modelling. As a result, the conduction mechanism inside the films was identified and found to be of a dual nature, with variable range hopping being dominant at near room temperatures. The saturation current was found to be thermally activated and the activation energy was calculated at 0.40 eV and the grain boundaries barrier at 150 meV. From Hall measurements it was also revealed that the dominant carriers are electrons and a carrier concentration of about 1014 cm−3 was estimated.