Giant Piezoresistance in B-Doped SiC Nanobelts with a Gauge Factor of −1800

The giant piezoresistance effect (PRE) of semiconductors as featured by a high gauge factor (GF) is recognized as the prerequisite for realizing optimal pressure sensors with desired high sensitivity. In this work, we report the discovery of giant PRE in SiC nanobelts with a record GF measured using an atomic force microscope. The transverse piezoresistance coefficient along the [111] direction reaches as high as −312.51 × 10–11 pa–1 with a corresponding GF up to −1875.1, which is twice more than the highest value ever reported on SiC nanomaterials. The first-principles calculations reveal that B doping turns the acceptor states in the bandgap into deeper impurity levels, which makes the major contribution to the observed giant piezoresistance behavior. Our result provides new insights on designing pressure sensors based on SiC nanomaterials.