Electronic bulk and domain wall properties in B-site doped hexagonal ErMnO${}_3$

Abstract

Acceptor and donor doping is a standard for tailoring semiconductors. More recently, doping was adapted to optimize the behavior at ferroelectric domain walls. In contrast to more than a century of research on semiconductors, the impact of chemical substitutions on the local electronic response at domain walls is largely unexplored. Here, the hexagonal manganite ErMnO${}_3$ is donor doped with Ti${}^{4+}$. Density functional theory calculations show that Ti${}^{4+}$ goes to the B-site, replacing Mn${}^{3+}$. Scanning probe microscopy measurements confirm the robustness of the ferroelectric domain template. The electronic transport at both macro- and nanoscopic length scales is characterized. The measurements demonstrate the intrinsic nature of emergent domain wall currents and point towards Poole-Frenkel conductance as the dominant transport mechanism. Aside from the new insight into the electronic properties of hexagonal manganites, B-site doping adds an additional degree of freedom for tuning the domain wall functionality.

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Charged domain walls in improper ferroelectric hexagonal manganites and gallates
• Frequency dependent polarisation switching in h-ErMnO${}_3$
• Oxygen vacancies in bulk and at neutral domain walls in hexagonal YMnO${}_3$
• Insulating improper ferroelectric domain walls as robust barrier layer capacitors
• Atomic-scale 3D imaging of individual dopant atoms in a complex oxide
• Post-synthesis tuning of dielectric constant via ferroelectric domain wall engineering
• Moiré Fringes in Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy
• Controlling local resistance via electric-field induced dislocations
• The domain-wall/metal-electrode injection barrier in lithium niobate: Which electrical transport model fits best?