Spontaneous Non-stoichiometry and Ordering in Degenerate but Gapped Transparent Conductors

We highlight a class of materials representing an exception to the Daltonian view that compounds maintain integer stoichiometry at low temperatures and use this behavior to select ordered vacancy compounds (OVCs) striking a wanted compromise between carrier concentration, transparency, and phase stability, crucial for transparent conductors (TCs). We show that carriers in the conduction band (CB) of degenerate gapped BaNbO₃, Ca₆Al₇O₁₆, and Ag₃Al₂₂O₃₄ compounds can cause a self-regulating instability, whereby cation vacancies form exothermically because a fraction of the CB electrons decays into the hole states formed by such vacancies, and this electron-hole recombination offsets the positive energy associated with vacancy bond breaking. This Fermi level-induced spontaneous non-stoichiometry can lead to the formation of OVCs with different optoelectronic properties and stable in different ranges of chemical potentials. Thus, we demonstrate how a window of opportunity can be determined between opposing tendencies of transparency, conductivity, and stability to design TCs.