skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Giant Domain Wall Conductivity in Self‐Assembled BiFeO 3 Nanocrystals

Journal Article · · Advanced Functional Materials
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [6]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing School of Materials Science and Engineering Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 P. R. China
  2. National Center for Electron Microscopy in Beijing The State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE) School of Materials Science and Engineering Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 P. R. China
  3. School of Materials Science and Engineering UNSW Sydney Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
  4. X‐ray Science Division Advanced Photon Source Argonne National Laboratory 9700 S. Cass Avenue Lemont IL 60439 USA
  5. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Nanobiomechanics Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 China, Department of Materials Science and Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 China
  6. School of Materials Science and Engineering UNSW Sydney Sydney NSW 2052 Australia, ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low‐Energy Electronics Technologies UNSW Sydney Sydney NSW 2052 Australia

Abstract Ever‐increasing demand on electronic devices with ultrahigh‐density non‐volatile data storage has attracted great interest in novel ferroelectric memories based on conductive ferroelectric domain walls. Embedded in an insulating material, ferroelectric domain walls have the capability of being (re)created, displaced, erased, and altered in their spatial configurations and electronic characteristics. However, the domain wall conductivities are in most cases not yet sufficiently high to ensure the current density required to drive read‐out circuits operating at high speeds. In this work, a giant domain wall current (>10 µA) of a single charged domain wall is obtained through conductive atomic force microscopy with a bias field of 4 V. This is achieved in self‐assembled BiFeO 3 nanocrystals grown by sol‐gel method on Nb‐doped SrTiO 3 substrates. Local configurations of domains and domain wall types are studied using vector piezoresponse force microscopy and high‐resolution transmission electronic microscopy. The enhancement of the wall current is shown to be due to the formation of conducting pathways of charged defects accumulated along domain walls and traversing the nanocrystals. The diverse domain walls can be manipulated by electric field in a perpendicular architecture. The perpendicular array structure of BiFeO 3 nanocrystals should have great potentials for developing perpendicular nanoelectronic prototypes.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1785758
Journal Information:
Advanced Functional Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Functional Materials Vol. 31 Journal Issue: 1; ISSN 1616-301X
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English

References (61)

Next-generation ferroelectric domain-wall memories: principle and architecture journal January 2019
A Strain-Driven Morphotropic Phase Boundary in BiFeO3 journal November 2009
Oxide Interfaces--An Opportunity for Electronics journal March 2010
Domain Wall Architecture in Tetragonal Ferroelectric Thin Films journal December 2016
Spin coating epitaxial films journal April 2019
Potassium‐Sodium‐Niobate‐Based Thin Films: Lead Free for Micro‐Piezoelectrics journal March 2019
Electrical Tunability of Domain Wall Conductivity in LiNbO 3 Thin Films journal October 2019
Magnetism at the interface between ferromagnetic and superconducting oxides journal April 2006
Thickness Dependence of Switching Behavior in Ferroelectric BiFeO3 Thin Films: A Phase-Field Simulation journal November 2017
High-temperature interface superconductivity between metallic and insulating copper oxides journal October 2008
Injection and controlled motion of conducting domain walls in improper ferroelectric Cu-Cl boracite journal May 2017
Hall effect in charged conducting ferroelectric domain walls journal December 2016
Conduction at domain walls in oxide multiferroics journal January 2009
Anisotropic conductance at improper ferroelectric domain walls journal February 2012
Physics and Applications of Bismuth Ferrite journal June 2009
Real-time observation of filamentary conduction pathways in Ca-doped BiFeO 3 journal October 2019
First-principles study of ferroelectric domain walls in multiferroic bismuth ferrite journal September 2009
Temporary formation of highly conducting domain walls for non-destructive read-out of ferroelectric domain-wall resistance switching memories journal November 2017
Phase structure of epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films on Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates journal November 2007
Conduction at Domain Walls in Insulating Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 Thin Films journal September 2011
Understanding the Nature of Ultrafast Polarization Dynamics of Ferroelectric Memory in the Multiferroic BiFeO 3 journal July 2009
Analysis of multi-domain ferroelectric switching in BiFeO3 thin film using phase-field method journal April 2016
Electronic Properties of Isosymmetric Phase Boundaries in Highly Strained Ca-Doped BiFeO 3 journal April 2014
Domain walls of ferroelectric BaTiO 3 within the Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire phenomenological model journal April 2010
Polarization switching in epitaxial BiFeO3 films journal December 2005
Tunable Metallic Conductance in Ferroelectric Nanodomains journal December 2011
Domain Dynamics During Ferroelectric Switching journal November 2011
Ferroelectric Domain Wall Memristor journal May 2020
Experimental demonstration of hybrid improper ferroelectricity and the presence of abundant charged walls in (Ca,Sr)3Ti2O7 crystals journal January 2015
Manipulation of Conductive Domain Walls in Confined Ferroelectric Nanoislands journal May 2019
Conducting Domain Walls in Lithium Niobate Single Crystals journal May 2012
Vector Piezoresponse Force Microscopy journal May 2006
Polarization charge as a reconfigurable quasi-dopant in ferroelectric thin films journal June 2015
Ferroelastic switching for nanoscale non-volatile magnetoelectric devices journal February 2010
Thermal Agitation of Electric Charge in Conductors journal July 1928
Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) journal November 2011
Hierarchical Domain Structure and Extremely Large Wall Current in Epitaxial BiFeO 3 Thin Films journal June 2018
Evidence of Sharp and Diffuse Domain Walls in BiFeO 3 by Means of Unit-Cell-Wise Strain and Polarization Maps Obtained with High Resolution Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy journal July 2012
Nanoelectronics based on topological structures journal February 2019
Interface Physics in Complex Oxide Heterostructures journal March 2011
Conduction through 71° Domain Walls in BiFeO 3 Thin Films journal September 2011
Resonant electron tunnelling assisted by charged domain walls in multiferroic tunnel junctions journal April 2017
Domain-wall conduction in ferroelectric BiFeO3 controlled by accumulation of charged defects journal November 2016
Domain wall conductivity in oxygen deficient multiferroic YMnO 3 single crystals journal December 2011
Domain wall conductivity in KTiOPO 4 crystals journal July 2017
Domain Wall Conductivity in La-Doped BiFeO 3 journal November 2010
Free-electron gas at charged domain walls in insulating BaTiO3 journal May 2013
Domain wall nanoelectronics journal February 2012
Conductivity of twin-domain-wall/surface junctions in ferroelastics: Interplay of deformation potential, octahedral rotations, improper ferroelectricity, and flexoelectric coupling journal August 2012
Piezoresponse force microscopy and recent advances in nanoscale studies of ferroelectrics journal January 2006
A detailed understanding of the electronic bipolar resistance switching behavior in Pt/TiO 2 /Pt structure journal May 2011
Tunable Quasi-Two-Dimensional Electron Gases in Oxide Heterostructures journal September 2006
Nonvolatile ferroelectric domain wall memory journal June 2017
Giant Resistive Switching via Control of Ferroelectric Charged Domain Walls journal May 2016
Deterministic switching of ferromagnetism at room temperature using an electric field journal December 2014
Pressureless densification and properties of TiB 2 –B 4 C composite ceramics with Ni as additives journal July 2018
A nanoscale shape memory oxide journal November 2013
A Review on Conduction Mechanisms in Dielectric Films journal January 2014
Large and accessible conductivity of charged domain walls in lithium niobate journal August 2017
High-temperature carrier transport and thermoelectric properties of heavily La- or Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystals journal February 2005
Critical thickness for ferroelectricity in perovskite ultrathin films journal April 2003

Similar Records

Hierarchical Domain Structure and Extremely Large Wall Current in Epitaxial BiFeO 3 Thin Films
Journal Article · Wed Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Advanced Functional Materials · OSTI ID:1785758

Unexpected Giant Microwave Conductivity in a Nominally Silent BiFeO3 Domain Wall
Journal Article · Wed Jan 22 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Advanced Materials · OSTI ID:1785758

Ferroelectric Domain Studies of Patterned (001) BiFeO3 by Angle-Resolved Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
Journal Article · Tue Jan 09 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Scientific Reports · OSTI ID:1785758

Related Subjects