Electrical half-wave rectification at ferroelectric domain walls

Abstract

Ferroelectric domain walls represent multifunctional 2D-elements with great potential for novel device paradigms at the nanoscale. Improper ferroelectrics display particularly promising types of domain walls, which, due to their unique robustness, are the ideal template for imposing specific electronic behavior. Chemical doping, for instance, induces p- or n-type characteristics and electric fields reversibly switch between resistive and conductive domain-wall states. Here, we demonstrate diode-like conversion of alternating-current (AC) into direct-current (DC) output based on neutral 180${}^{\circ }$ domain walls in improper ferroelectric ErMnO${}_3$. By combining scanning probe and dielectric spectroscopy, we show that the rectification occurs for frequencies at which the domain walls are fixed to their equilibrium position. The practical frequency regime and magnitude of the output is controlled by the bulk conductivity. Using density functional theory we attribute the transport behavior at the neutral walls to an accumulation of oxygen defects. Our study reveals domain walls acting as 2D half-wave rectifiers, extending domain-wall-based nanoelectronic applications into the realm of AC technology.

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Cited by in corpus (13)

• Ferroelectric Polycrystals: Structural and microstructural levers for property engineering via domain-wall dynamics
• Oxygen vacancies in bulk and at neutral domain walls in hexagonal YMnO${}_3$
• Macroscopic Manifestation of Domain-wall Magnetism and Magnetoelectric Effect in a Néel-type Skyrmion Host
• Intrinsic and extrinsic conduction contributions at nominally neutral domain walls in hexagonal manganites
• Local control of improper ferroelectric domains in YMnO${}_3$
• Charged ferroelectric domain walls for deterministic a.c. signal control
• Insulating improper ferroelectric domain walls as robust barrier layer capacitors
• Electrostatic potential mapping at ferroelectric domain walls by low-temperature photoemission electron microscopy
• Moiré Fringes in Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy
• Current Flow Mapping in Conducting Ferroelectric Domain Walls using Scanning NV-Magnetometry
• Establishing quasi-linear quadrupole functional topology by oxygen-vacancy engineering at a ferroelectric domain wall
• The domain-wall/metal-electrode injection barrier in lithium niobate: Which electrical transport model fits best?
• Controlling local resistance via electric-field induced dislocations