Spontaneous off-stoichiometry as the knob to control dielectric properties of gapped metals

Abstract: Using the first-principles calculations and La3Te4 as an example of an n-type gapped metal, we demonstrate that gapped metals can develop spontaneous defect formation resulting in off-stoichiometric compounds. Importantly, these compounds have different free carrier concentrations and can be realized by optimizing synthesis conditions. The ability to manipulate the free carrier concentration allows to tailor intraband and interband transitions, thus controlling the optoelectronic properties of materials in general. Specifically, by realizing different off-stochiometric La3-xTe4 compounds, it is possible to reach specific crossings of the real part of the dielectric function with the zero line, reduce plasma frequency contribution to absorption spectra, or, more generally, induce metal-to-insulator transition. This is particularly important in the context of optoelectronic, plasmonic, and epsilon-near-zero materials, as it enables materials design with a target functionality. While this work is limited to the specific gapped metal, we demonstrate that the fundamental physics is transferable to other gapped metals and can be generally used to design a wide class of new optoelectronic/plasmonic materials.