Optically controlled electroresistance and electrically controlled photovoltage in ferroelectric tunnel junctions

Hu, Weijin; Wang, Zhihong; Yu, Weili; Wu, Tao

Optically controlled electroresistance and electrically controlled photovoltage in ferroelectric tunnel junctions

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Type

Article

Authors

Hu, Weijin

Wang, Zhihong
Yu, Weili
Wu, Tao

KAUST Department

Laboratory of Nano Oxides for Sustainable Energy
Material Science and Engineering Program
Nanofabrication Core Lab
Patterning
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division

Online Publication Date

2016-02-29

Print Publication Date

2016-04

Date

2016-02-29

Abstract

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) have recently attracted considerable interest as a promising candidate for applications in the next-generation non-volatile memory technology. In this work, using an ultrathin (3 nm) ferroelectric Sm0.1Bi0.9FeO3 layer as the tunnelling barrier and a semiconducting Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystal as the bottom electrode, we achieve a tunnelling electroresistance as large as 105. Furthermore, the FTJ memory states could be modulated by light illumination, which is accompanied by a hysteretic photovoltaic effect. These complimentary effects are attributed to the bias- and light-induced modulation of the tunnel barrier, both in height and width, at the semiconductor/ferroelectric interface. Overall, the highly tunable tunnelling electroresistance and the correlated photovoltaic functionalities provide a new route for producing and non-destructively sensing multiple non-volatile electronic states in such FTJs.

Citation

Optically controlled electroresistance and electrically controlled photovoltage in ferroelectric tunnel junctions 2016, 7:10808 Nature Communications

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).