Demonstration of domain wall current in MgO-doped lithium niobate single crystals up to 400 °C

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Main Authors: Wulfmeier, Hendrik, Yakhnevych, Uliana, Boekhoff, Cornelius, Diima, Allan, Kunzner, Marlo, Verhoff, Leonard M., Paul, Jonas, Ratzenberger, Julius, Beyreuther, Elke, Gössel, Joshua, Kiseleva, Iuliia, Rüsing, Michael, Sanna, Simone, Eng, Lukas M., Fritze, Holger
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wulfmeier, Hendrik
Yakhnevych, Uliana
Boekhoff, Cornelius
Diima, Allan
Kunzner, Marlo
Verhoff, Leonard M.
Paul, Jonas
Ratzenberger, Julius
Beyreuther, Elke
Gössel, Joshua
Kiseleva, Iuliia
Rüsing, Michael
Sanna, Simone
Eng, Lukas M.
Fritze, Holger
author_facet Wulfmeier, Hendrik
Yakhnevych, Uliana
Boekhoff, Cornelius
Diima, Allan
Kunzner, Marlo
Verhoff, Leonard M.
Paul, Jonas
Ratzenberger, Julius
Beyreuther, Elke
Gössel, Joshua
Kiseleva, Iuliia
Rüsing, Michael
Sanna, Simone
Eng, Lukas M.
Fritze, Holger
contents Conductive ferroelectric domain walls (DWs) represent a promising topical system for the development of nanoelectronic components and device sensors to be operational at elevated temperatures. DWs show very different properties as compared to their hosting bulk crystal, in particular with respect to the high local electrical conductivity. The objective of this work is to demonstrate DW conductivity up to temperatures as high as \SI{400}{\degreeCelsius} which extends previous studies significantly. Experimental investigation of the DW conductivity of charged, inclined DWs is performed using \SI{5}{\mole\percent} MgO-doped lithium niobate single crystals. \CR{Current-voltage (\IV) curves are determined by DC electrometer measurements and impedance spectroscopy and found to be identical. Moreover, impedance spectroscopy enables to recognize artifacts such as damaged electrodes. Temperature dependent measurements} over repeated heating cycles reveal two distinct thermal activation energies for a given DW, with the higher of the activation energies only measured at higher temperatures. Depending on the specific sample, the higher activation energy is found above \SI{160}{\degreeCelsius}~to~\SI{230}{\degreeCelsius}. This suggests, in turn, that more than one type of defect/polaron is involved, and that the dominant transport mechanism changes with increasing temperature. First principles atomistic modelling suggests that the conductivity of inclined domain walls cannot be solely explained by the formation of a 2D carrier gas and must be supported by hopping processes. This holds true even at temperatures as high as \SI{400}{\degreeCelsius}. Our investigations underline the potential to extend \DWC based nanoelectronic and sensor applications even into the so-far unexplored temperature range up to \SI{400}{\degreeCelsius}.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_00143
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Demonstration of domain wall current in MgO-doped lithium niobate single crystals up to 400 °C
Wulfmeier, Hendrik
Yakhnevych, Uliana
Boekhoff, Cornelius
Diima, Allan
Kunzner, Marlo
Verhoff, Leonard M.
Paul, Jonas
Ratzenberger, Julius
Beyreuther, Elke
Gössel, Joshua
Kiseleva, Iuliia
Rüsing, Michael
Sanna, Simone
Eng, Lukas M.
Fritze, Holger
Applied Physics
Conductive ferroelectric domain walls (DWs) represent a promising topical system for the development of nanoelectronic components and device sensors to be operational at elevated temperatures. DWs show very different properties as compared to their hosting bulk crystal, in particular with respect to the high local electrical conductivity. The objective of this work is to demonstrate DW conductivity up to temperatures as high as \SI{400}{\degreeCelsius} which extends previous studies significantly. Experimental investigation of the DW conductivity of charged, inclined DWs is performed using \SI{5}{\mole\percent} MgO-doped lithium niobate single crystals. \CR{Current-voltage (\IV) curves are determined by DC electrometer measurements and impedance spectroscopy and found to be identical. Moreover, impedance spectroscopy enables to recognize artifacts such as damaged electrodes. Temperature dependent measurements} over repeated heating cycles reveal two distinct thermal activation energies for a given DW, with the higher of the activation energies only measured at higher temperatures. Depending on the specific sample, the higher activation energy is found above \SI{160}{\degreeCelsius}~to~\SI{230}{\degreeCelsius}. This suggests, in turn, that more than one type of defect/polaron is involved, and that the dominant transport mechanism changes with increasing temperature. First principles atomistic modelling suggests that the conductivity of inclined domain walls cannot be solely explained by the formation of a 2D carrier gas and must be supported by hopping processes. This holds true even at temperatures as high as \SI{400}{\degreeCelsius}. Our investigations underline the potential to extend \DWC based nanoelectronic and sensor applications even into the so-far unexplored temperature range up to \SI{400}{\degreeCelsius}.
title Demonstration of domain wall current in MgO-doped lithium niobate single crystals up to 400 °C
topic Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.00143