Abstract
Ferroelectric domain wall conductance is a rapidly growing field. Thin-film lithium niobate, as in lithium niobate on insulators (LNOI), appears to be an ideal template, which is tuned by the inclination of the domain wall. Thus, the precise tuning of domain wall inclination with the applied voltage can be used in non-volatile memories, which store more than binary information. In this study, we present the realization of this concept for non-volatile memories. We obtain remarkably stable set voltages by the ferroelectric nature of the device as well as a very large increase in the conduction, by at least five orders of magnitude at room temperature. Furthermore, the device conductance can be reproducibly tuned over at least two orders of magnitude. The observed domain wall (DW) conductance tunability by the applied voltage can be correlated with phase-field simulated DW inclination evolution upon poling. Furthermore, evidence for polaron-based conduction is given.
Highlights
In recent years, increasing efforts have been made to develop novel non-volatile memory concepts to meet the increasing demands in terms of scalability and energy consumption
Various explanations have been made to describe the conductivity of ferroelectric domain wall (DW), ranging from oxygen or cation accumulation at the DW to polaron or electron gas formation [6,7,8,9] In various reports, the conductivity was proven to be correlated with the charge state of the DW; i.e., DWs inclined to the polar axis showed increased conductance [10,11,12] Tuning of the DW conductance was possible by the application of an external field, which resulted in an increase in DW inclination [13]
DWs were probed by conductive-type atomic force microscopy (cAFM) to investigate the emergence of DW conductivity in these congruent
Summary
In recent years, increasing efforts have been made to develop novel non-volatile memory concepts to meet the increasing demands in terms of scalability and energy consumption. Conductive ferroelectric domain walls (DWs) appear an interesting approach, as ferroelectric DWs are topological defects on the atomic scale and can be created, moved and erased solely by the application of an electric field. Similar behavior was observed in various other ferroelectric thin films such as lead-zirconate titanate (PZT) [3] and lithium niobate (LNO) [4,5]. The application to non-volatile memories lies in the contradiction in ferroelectrics. They are known for their very large bandgaps. Various explanations have been made to describe the conductivity of ferroelectric DWs, ranging from oxygen or cation accumulation at the DW to polaron or electron gas formation [6,7,8,9] In various reports, the conductivity was proven to be correlated with the charge state of the DW; i.e., DWs inclined to the polar axis showed increased conductance [10,11,12] Tuning of the DW conductance was possible by the application of an external field, which resulted in an increase in DW inclination [13]
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