Scaling and disorder analysis of local I–V curves from ferroelectric thin films of lead zirconate titanate

Journal Article · Mon May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Nanotechnology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/22/25/254031· OSTI ID:1337810

Maksymovych, Peter ^[1]; Pan, Minghu ^[1]; Yu, Pu ^[2]; Ramesh, Ramamoorthy ^[2]; Baddorf, Arthur P. ^[1]; Kalinin, Sergei V. ^[1]

---

1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Sciences and Engineering. Dept. of Physics

In this paper, differential analysis of current–voltage characteristics, obtained on the surface of epitaxial films of ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr_0.2Ti_0.8)O₃) using scanning probe microscopy, was combined with spatially resolved mapping of variations in local conductance to differentiate between candidate mechanisms of local electronic transport and the origin of disorder. Within the assumed approximations, electron transport was inferred to be determined by two mechanisms depending on the magnitude of applied bias, with the low-bias range dominated by the trap-assisted Fowler–Nordheim tunneling through the interface and the high-bias range limited by the hopping conduction through the bulk. Phenomenological analysis of the I–V curves has further revealed that the transition between the low- and high-bias regimes is manifested both in the strength of variations within the I–V curves sampled across the surface, as well as the spatial distribution of conductance. Finally, spatial variations were concluded to originate primarily from the heterogeneity of the interfacial electronic barrier height with an additional small contribution from random changes in the tip–contact geometry.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH1123
• OSTI ID: 1337810
• Journal Information: Nanotechnology, Vol. 22, Issue 25; ISSN 0957-4484
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS