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.
Highlights
Can carry a degenerate highly-conductive electron gas though some indications were reported earlier19
All domain patterns with CDWs were fabricated in BaTiO3 crystals obtained from the same supplier as ones studied in5, where it was shown that the obtained domain boundaries are highly conductive interfaces
In this work we addressed theoretically and experimentally the controlled formation of domain patterns with charged domain walls in a classical proper ferroelectric
Summary
Can carry a degenerate highly-conductive electron gas though some indications were reported earlier. Promising as well is the theoretical prediction of enhanced piezoelectric response in ferroelectrics as a function of increased CDWs density. Methods to intentionally create CDWs are, still obscure. We present the theory and methods of controlled formation of CDW patterns. We outline the theoretical background for the formation of CDWs, using mainly energy considerations, which identifies the favourable conditions for CDW formation. We apply the theory to experiments where we demonstrate the controlled formation of CDW patterns with decreasing domain width down to 7 μ m. All domain patterns with CDWs were fabricated in BaTiO3 crystals obtained from the same supplier as ones studied in, where it was shown that the obtained domain boundaries are highly conductive interfaces
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