Ultrafast photovoltaic response in ferroelectric nanolayers.

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.087601· OSTI ID:1037565

Daranciang, D; Highland, M J; Wen, H; Young, S M; Brandt, N C; Walko, D A; Dufresne, E M; Li, Y; Fuoss, P H; Stephenson, G B ^[1]

---

1. Materials Science Division

We show that light drives large-amplitude structural changes in thin films of the prototypical ferroelectric PbTiO{sub 3} via direct coupling to its intrinsic photovoltaic response. Using time-resolved x-ray scattering to visualize atomic displacements on femtosecond time scales, photoinduced changes in the unit-cell tetragonality are observed. These are driven by the motion of photogenerated free charges within the ferroelectric and can be simply explained by a model including both shift and screening currents, associated with the displacement of electrons first antiparallel to and then parallel to the ferroelectric polarization direction.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1037565
• Report Number(s): ANL/MSD/JA-72031; TRN: US201207%%367
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 8; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: ENGLISH

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMIC DISPLACEMENTS
ELECTRONS
POLARIZATION
SCATTERING
THIN FILMS