Formation of charged ferroelectric domain walls with controlled periodicity
Open Access
- 30 October 2015
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Scientific Reports
- Vol. 5 (1), 15819
- https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15819
Abstract
Charged domain walls in proper ferroelectrics were shown recently to possess metallic-like conductivity. Unlike conventional heterointerfaces, these walls can be displaced inside a dielectric by an electric field, which is of interest for future electronic circuitry. In addition, theory predicts that charged domain walls may influence the electromechanical response of ferroelectrics, with strong enhancement upon increased charged domain wall density. The existence of charged domain walls in proper ferroelectrics is disfavoured by their high formation energy and methods of their preparation in predefined patterns are unknown. Here we develop the theoretical background for the formation of charged domain walls in proper ferroelectrics using energy considerations and outline favourable conditions for their engineering. We experimentally demonstrate, in BaTiO3 single crystals the controlled build-up of high density charged domain wall patterns, down to a spacing of 7 μm with a predominant mixed electronic and ionic screening scenario, hinting to a possible exploitation of charged domain walls in agile electronics and sensing devices.Keywords
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- Free-electron gas at charged domain walls in insulating BaTiO3Nature Communications, 2013
- Two-dimensional electron gas with universal subbands at the surface of SrTiO3Nature, 2011
- Domains in Ferroic Crystals and Thin FilmsPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2010
- Two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in grapheneNature, 2005
- A high-mobility electron gas at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerfaceNature, 2004
- Direct observation of domain inversion in heat-treated LiNbO3using surface laser intensity modulation method (SLIMM)Ferroelectrics, 1994
- Forming of the domain structure in lead germanate during phase transitionFerroelectrics, 1993
- Ferroelectric domain configurations in a modified-PZT ceramicJournal of Materials Science, 1987
- Electron mobilities in modulation-doped semiconductor heterojunction superlatticesApplied Physics Letters, 1978
- The domain structure formation at phase transitionsFerroelectrics, 1978