Abstract
Unidirectional electric current flow, such as that found in a diode, is essential for modern electronics. It usually occurs at asymmetric interfaces such as p-n junctions or metal/semiconductor interfaces with Schottky barriers. We report on a diode effect associated with the direction of bulk electric polarization in BiFeO 3 : a ferroelectric with a small optical gap edge of ∼2.2 electron volts. We found that bulk electric conduction in ferroelectric monodomain BiFeO 3 crystals is highly nonlinear and unidirectional. This diode effect switches its direction when the electric polarization is flipped by an external voltage. A substantial visible-light photovoltaic effect is observed in BiFeO 3 diode structures. These results should improve understanding of charge conduction mechanisms in leaky ferroelectrics and advance the design of switchable devices combining ferroelectric, electronic, and optical functionalities.
References
22
Referenced
1,835
-
J. F. Scott Ferroelectric Memories (Springer Heidelberg Germany 2000).
(
10.1007/978-3-662-04307-3
) 10.1103/RevModPhys.77.1083
10.1088/0953-8984/20/02/021001
10.1126/science.1080615
10.1070/PU1978v021n12ABEH005722
10.1063/1.1655453
10.1364/JOSAB.14.001390
10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.988
10.1063/1.125891
10.1063/1.368216
10.1063/1.2560217
10.1070/PU1980v023n03ABEH004703
10.1117/12.316867
10.1103/PhysRevLett.9.446
10.1063/1.111922
10.1063/1.2939101
10.1063/1.2930678
10.1103/PhysRevB.78.100101
10.1088/0953-8984/19/19/196223
10.1063/1.2345825
10.1063/1.2887908
- This work was funded by NSF (grants NSF-DMR-0804109 and 0704487). T.C. was partially supported by a Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean government (MOEHRD grant KRF-2007-357-C00023).
Dates
Type | When |
---|---|
Created | 16 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 19, 2009, 9:44 p.m.) |
Deposited | 1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 10, 2024, 4:36 a.m.) |
Indexed | 4 minutes ago (Aug. 28, 2025, 3:04 p.m.) |
Issued | 16 years, 4 months ago (April 3, 2009) |
Published | 16 years, 4 months ago (April 3, 2009) |
Published Print | 16 years, 4 months ago (April 3, 2009) |
@article{Choi_2009, title={Switchable Ferroelectric Diode and Photovoltaic Effect in BiFeO 3}, volume={324}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1168636}, DOI={10.1126/science.1168636}, number={5923}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Choi, T. and Lee, S. and Choi, Y. J. and Kiryukhin, V. and Cheong, S.-W.}, year={2009}, month=apr, pages={63–66} }