2022 Volume 2022 Article ID: 220418
Control and switching of physical properties, such as electronic conductivity, in semiconductors are important technology to develop high performance semiconductor devices. In this review, we introduce a new concept to induce giant electronic conductivity switching driven by direct phase transition from three-dimensional (3D) to 2D structures in (Pb1−xSnx)Se, a solid solution of 3D PbSe and 2D SnSe semiconductors. We induced the direct phase boundary between 3D and 2D crystal structures in (Pb1−xSnx)Se epitaxial films by using a nonequilibrium growth technique. Reversible giant electronic conductivity change was attained at x∼0.5 originating in the abrupt band structure switch from a gapless Dirac-like state to a semiconducting state. The present idea using crystal structure dimensionality modulation would lead to further functional property switching in semiconductors.