Temperature-Dependent Gate Effect of Sintered HgTe Nanoparticles

In this study, the electronic properties of sintered HgTe nanoparticles are characterized to determine the type of charge carrier within them, and to investigate their gate effects as a function of temperature. HgTe nanoparticles synthesized by the colloidal method were first deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates by spin-coating, and then sintered at 150 °C. The sintered nanoparticles were determined to be p-type by analyzing the drain current and drain–source voltage ( I d – V ds ) relationship as a function of the gate voltage ( V g ). The field-effect mobilities of the holes in the sintered HgTe nanoparticles are estimated to be 0.041, 0.036, and 0.022 cm 2 /(V·s) at 60, 180, and 300 K, respectively. The variation in the slope of the I d – V ds curve as a function of V g becomes more distinctive as temperature decreases. At temperatures lower than 140 K, an inversion mode was observed for the channel of the sintered nanoparticles.