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Title: Tunable Oxygen Diffusion and Electronic Conduction in SrTiO 3 by Dislocation-Induced Space Charge Fields

Journal Article · · Advanced Functional Materials
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [1]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering; Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  3. Max Planck Inst. for Solid State Research, Stuttgart (Germany)

Plastic strain engineering has been applied to induce controllable changes in electronic and oxygen ion conductivity in oxides by orders of magnitude, without changing their nominal composition. By using SrTiO3 as a model system of technological importance, and by combining electrical and chemical tracer diffusion experiments with computational modeling, it is revealed that dislocations alter the equilibrium concentration and distribution of electronic and ionic defects. The easier reducibility of the dislocation cores increases the n-type conductivity by 50 times at oxygen pressures below 10-5 atm at 650 °C. At higher oxygen pressures the p-type conductivity decreases by 50 times and the oxygen diffusion coefficient reduces by three orders of magnitude. The strongly altered electrical and oxygen diffusion properties in SrTiO3 arise because of the existence of overlapping electrostatic fields around the positively charged dislocation cores. The findings and the approach are broadly important and have the potential for significantly impacting the functionalities of electrochemical and/or electronic applications such as thin film oxide electronics, memristive systems, sensors, micro-solid oxide fuel cells, and catalysts, whose functionalities rely on the concentration and distribution of charged point defects.

Research Organization:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0002633; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1533017
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1401061
Journal Information:
Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 22; ISSN 1616-301X
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 59 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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A bottom-up process of self-formation of highly conductive titanium oxide (TiO) nanowires on reduced SrTiO 3 journal January 2019
The blocking effect of surface dislocations on oxygen tracer diffusion in SrTiO 3 journal January 2018
Semicoherent oxide heterointerfaces: Structure, properties, and implications journal October 2019
Resistance Switching Behavior in Rectangle-Nano-Pattern SrTiO3 Induced by Simple Annealing journal November 2019
Electrochemical mechanisms of an advanced low-temperature fuel cell with a SrTiO 3 electrolyte journal January 2019
In Situ Optical Absorption Studies of Point Defect Kinetics and Thermodynamics in Oxide Thin Films journal June 2019
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