Electrical conductivity of the biaxially-strained GaSb(111) films

We have investigated strain effects on the electrical conductivity of bulk GaSb and GaSb(111) films. For the biaxially-strained bulk systems, the electrical conductivity becomes highest at normal pressure and temperature for lower hole concentration. As the hole concentration becomes larger, the singularity of the electrical conductivity at normal pressure disappears. Such behaviors originate from the symmetry breaking under strain. For the two-dimensional film systems, the singularity of the electrical conductivity does not emerge, because the symmetry is not broken under the biaxial strain. The electrical conductivity increases with decreasing film thickness. This is due to the so-called quantum confinement effect.