Prominent electrochromism through vacancy-order melting in a complex oxide
- 1 January 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Communications
- Vol. 3 (1), 799
- https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1799
Abstract
Electrochromes are materials that have the ability to reversibly change from one colour state to another with the application of an electric field. Electrochromic colouration efficiency is typically large in organic materials that are not very stable chemically. Here we show that inorganic Bi0.9Ca0.1FeO3−0.05 thin films exhibit a prominent electrochromic effect arising from an intrinsic mechanism due to the melting of oxygen-vacancy ordering and the associated redistribution of carriers. We use a combination of optical characterization techniques in conjunction with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and first-principles theory. The absorption change and colouration efficiency at the band edge (blue-cyan region) are 4.8×106 m−1 and 190 cm2 C−1, respectively, which are the highest reported values for inorganic electrochromes, even exceeding values of some organic materials.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Electrochromism and Electrochromic DevicesPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,2007
- Out of a nicheNature Materials, 2006
- Electrochromism accompanying ferroelectric domain inversion in congruent RuO2:LiNbO3 crystalOptics Express, 2005
- Electrochromic materials and devices: present and futureMaterials Chemistry and Physics, 2003
- Photoelectrochromic windows and displaysNature, 1996
- Yttrium and lanthanum hydride films with switchable optical propertiesNature, 1996
- Inorganic Non-Oxide Electrochromic MaterialsPublished by Elsevier BV ,1995
- Laser-Induced FreezingPhysical Review Letters, 1985
- Field-Induced First-Order Orientation Transitions in Ferroelectric Liquid CrystalsPhysical Review Letters, 1983
- Optical and photoelectric properties and colour centres in thin films of tungsten oxidePhilosophical Magazine, 1973