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Conduction at domain walls in oxide multiferroics

Publication Type

Journal Article

Authors

Seidel, J., 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

DOI

10.1038/nmat2373

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.

Journal

Nature Materials

Volume

Year of Publication

2009

ISSN

14761122

Notes

cited By 800

Research Areas

Ramesh Lab