Towards bipolar tin monoxide: Revealing unexplored dopants

The advancement of transparent electronics, one of the most anticipated technological developments for the future, is currently inhibited by a shortage of high-performance p-type semiconductors. Recent demonstration of tin monoxide as a successful transparent p-type thin-film transistor and the discovery of its potential for ambipolar doping, suggests that tin monoxide—an environmentally friendly earth-abundant material—could offer a solution to this challenge. With the aim of enhancing the electronic properties, an extensive search for useful dopant elements was performed. Substitutional doping with the family of alkali metals was identified as a successful route to increase the concentration of acceptors in SnO and over ten shallow donors, which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been previously contemplated, were discovered. This work presents a detailed analysis of the most promising n-/p-type dopants—offering new insights into the design of an ambipolar SnO. If synthesized successfully, such a doped ambipolar oxide could open new avenues for many transparent technologies.