Enhanced electric conductivity at ferroelectric vortex cores in BiFeO3

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Nature Physics

OSTI ID:1039635

Balke, Nina ^[1]; Winchester, Ben ^[2]; Ren, Wei ^[3]; Chu, Ying-Hao ^[4]; Morozovska, A. N. ^[5]; Eliseev, E. A. ^[5]; Huijben, Mark ^[6]; Vasudevan, Rama K ^[1]; Maksymovych, Petro ^[1]; Britson, J. ^[2]; Jesse, Stephen ^[1]; Kornev, Igor ^[7]; Ramesh, R. ^[8]; Bellaiche, Laurent ^[3]; Chen, Long-Qing ^[2]; Kalinin, Sergei V ^[1]

---

1. ORNL
2. Pennsylvania State University
3. University of Arkansas
4. National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
5. National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
6. University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
7. Ecole Centrale Paris
8. University of California, Berkeley

Topological defects in ferroic materials are attracting much attention both as a playground of unique physical phenomena and for potential applications in reconfigurable electronic devices. Here, we explore electronic transport at artificially created ferroelectric vortices in BiFeO{sub 3} thin films. The creation of one-dimensional conductive channels activated at voltages as low as 1 V is demonstrated. We study the electronic as well as the static and dynamic polarization structure of several topological defects using a combination of first-principles and phase-field modelling. The modelling predicts that the core structure can undergo a reversible transformation into a metastable twist structure, extending charged domain walls segments through the film thickness. The vortex core is therefore a dynamic conductor controlled by the coupled response of polarization and electron-mobile-vacancy subsystems with external bias. This controlled creation of conductive one-dimensional channels suggests a pathway for the design and implementation of integrated oxide electronic devices based on domain patterning.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1039635
• Journal Information: Nature Physics, Vol. 8, Issue 1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
DEFECTS
DESIGN
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
IMPLEMENTATION
OXIDES
PHYSICS
POLARIZATION
THICKNESS
THIN FILMS
TRANSFORMATIONS
TRANSPORT
VORTICES