Conduction at domain walls in oxide multiferroics

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

J. Seidel; L.W. Martin; Q. He; Q. Zhan; Y.-H. Chu; A. Rother; M.E. Hawkridge; P. Maksymovych; P. Yu; M. Gajek; N. Balke; S.V. Kalinin; S. Gemming; F. Wang; G. Catalan; J.F. Scott; N.A. Spaldin; J. Orenstein; Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Source:

Nature Materials, Nature Publishing Group, Volume 8, Number 3, p.229-234 (2009)

Keywords:

atomic force microscopy, Conductive atomic force microscopy, Density functional computations, Device application, Domain walls, Electronic conductivity, Electronic structure, Electrostatic potentials, Ferroelectric domains, Ferroelectric materials, ferroelectricity, High resolution transmission electron microscopy, Local electronic structures, Nanoscale features

Abstract:

Domain walls may play an important role in future electronic devices, given their small size as well as the fact that their location can be controlled. Here, we report the observation of room-temperature electronic conductivity at ferroelectric domain walls in the insulating multiferroic BiFeO 3. The origin and nature of the observed conductivity are probed using a combination of conductive atomic force microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and first-principles density functional computations. Our analyses indicate that the conductivity correlates with structurally driven changes in both the electrostatic potential and the local electronic structure, which shows a decrease in the bandgap at the domain wall. Additionally, we demonstrate the potential for device applications of such conducting nanoscale features.

Notes:

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