Giant switchable non thermally-activated conduction in 180° domain walls in tetragonal Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3

• Published in: Nature communications 2022-11, Vol.13 (1), p.7239
• Main Authors: Risch, Felix, Tikhonov, Yuri, Lukyanchuk, Igor, Ionescu, Adrian M, Stolichnov, Igor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34777-6

Conductive domain walls in ferroelectrics offer a promising concept of nanoelectronic circuits with 2D domain-wall channels playing roles of memristors or synoptic interconnections. However, domain wall conduction remains challenging to control and pA-range currents typically measured on individual walls are too low for single-channel devices. Charged domain walls show higher conductivity, but are generally unstable and difficult to create. Here, we show highly conductive and stable channels on ubiquitous 180° domain walls in the archetypical ferroelectric, tetragonal Pb(Zr,Ti)O . These electrically erasable/rewritable channels show currents of tens of nanoamperes (200 to 400 nA/μm) at voltages ≤2 V and metallic-like non thermally-activated transport properties down to 4 K, as confirmed by nanoscopic mapping. The domain structure analysis and phase-field simulations reveal complex switching dynamics, in which the extraordinary conductivity in strained Pb(Zr,Ti)O films is explained by an interplay between ferroelastic a- and c-domains. This work demonstrates the potential of accessible and stable arrangements of nominally uncharged and electrically switchable domain walls for nanoelectronics.