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Controlling domain wall motion in ferroelectric thin films

Nature Nanotechnology volume 10, pages 145–150 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Domain walls in ferroic materials have attracted significant interest in recent years, in particular because of the unique properties that can be found in their vicinity1,2,3. However, to fully harness their potential as nanoscale functional entities4,5, it is essential to achieve reliable and precise control of their nucleation, location, number and velocity. Here, using piezoresponse force microscopy, we show the control and manipulation of domain walls in ferroelectric thin films of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 with Pt top electrodes. This high-level control presents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the versatility and flexibility of ferroelectric domain walls. Their position can be controlled by the tuning of voltage pulses, and multiple domain walls can be nucleated and handled in a reproducible fashion. The system is accurately described by analogy to the classical Stefan problem6, which has been used previously to describe many diverse systems and is here applied to electric circuits. This study is a step towards the realization of domain wall nanoelectronics utilizing ferroelectric thin films.

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Figure 1: Experimental set-up and demonstration of predefined nucleation sites.
Figure 2: Characterization of a single propagating domain wall.
Figure 3: Repeated placement of a single domain wall.
Figure 4: Management of multiple domain walls in a line electrode.
Figure 5: Complex electrode structures as domain wall multipliers.

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Acknowledgements

The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the EU 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC grant agreement no. 268058 Mobile-W. The Swiss National Science Foundation (grant nos. 200020_140539 and 200020_153177) and the Swiss Federal Office of Education and Science (COST 0904 Action) are acknowledged for additional financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ceramics Laboratory, EPFL – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    L. J. McGilly, P. Yudin, L. Feigl, A. K. Tagantsev & N. Setter

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  1. L. J. McGilly
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  2. P. Yudin
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  3. L. Feigl
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  4. A. K. Tagantsev
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  5. N. Setter
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Contributions

L.J.McG conceived the concept of the study, carried out the experiments and wrote the manuscript with input from all authors. L.F. prepared the thin films. P.Y. and A.K.T. developed the model and theory. N.S. initiated the study and was responsible for the overall direction.

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Correspondence to L. J. McGilly.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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McGilly, L., Yudin, P., Feigl, L. et al. Controlling domain wall motion in ferroelectric thin films. Nature Nanotech 10, 145–150 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.320

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