Intrinsic Conductance of Domain Walls in BiFeO 3
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of California Irvine Irvine CA 92697 USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy &, Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience University of Nebraska Lincoln NE 68588 USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering Pennsylvania State University State College PA 16802 USA
- Irvine Materials Research Institute University of California Irvine CA 92697 USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering Cornell University Ithaca NY 14850 USA
- Department of Applied Physics The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom Kowloon 999077 Hong Kong
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering Cornell University Ithaca NY 14850 USA, Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science Ithaca NY 14853 USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of California Irvine Irvine CA 92697 USA, Department of Physics and Astronomy University of California Irvine CA 92697 USA
Abstract Ferroelectric domain walls exhibit a number of new functionalities that are not present in their host material. One of these functional characteristics is electrical conductivity that may lead to future device applications. Although progress has been made, the intrinsic conductivity of BiFeO 3 domain walls is still elusive. Here, the intrinsic conductivity of 71° and 109° domain walls is reported by probing the local conductance over a cross section of the BiFeO 3 /TbScO 3 (001) heterostructure. Through a combination of conductive atomic force microscopy, high‐resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, and phase‐field simulations, it is found that the 71° domain wall has an inherently charged nature, while the 109° domain wall is close to neutral. Hence, the intrinsic conductivity of the 71° domain walls is an order of magnitude larger than that of the 109° domain walls associated with bound‐charge‐induced bandgap lowering. Furthermore, the interaction of adjacent 71° domain walls and domain wall curvature leads to a variation of the charge distribution inside the walls, and causes a discontinuity of potential in the [110] p direction, which results in an alternative conductivity of the neighboring 71° domain walls, and a low conductivity of the 71° domain walls when measurement is taken from the film top surface.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 1545391
- Journal Information:
- Advanced Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Materials Vol. 31 Journal Issue: 36; ISSN 0935-9648
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- Germany
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Similar Records
Hierarchical Domain Structure and Extremely Large Wall Current in Epitaxial BiFeO 3 Thin Films
Giant Domain Wall Conductivity in Self‐Assembled BiFeO 3 Nanocrystals