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Title: Disparity of secondary electron emission in ferroelectric domains of YMnO{sub 3}

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927205· OSTI ID:22486347
; ; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. National Center for Electron Microscopy in Beijing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The State Key Laboratory of Ceramics and Fine Processing, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE), Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)
  2. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China)

The applications of multiferroic materials require our understanding about the behaviors of domains with different polarization directions. Taking advantage of the scanning electron microscope, we investigate the polar surface of single crystal YMnO{sub 3} sample in secondary electron (SE) mode. By slowing down the scanning speed of electron beam, the negative surface potential of YMnO{sub 3} can be realized, and the domain contrast can be correspondingly changed. Under this experimental condition, with the help of a homemade Faraday cup, the difference of intrinsic SE emission coefficients of antiparallel domains is measured to be 0.12 and the downward polarization domains show a larger SE emission ability. Our results indicate that the total SE emission of this material can be altered by changing the ratio of the antiparallel domains, which provide an avenue for device design with this kind of materials.

OSTI ID:
22486347
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English