Influence of Oxygen Pressure on the Domain Dynamics and Local Electrical Properties of BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 Thin Films Studied by Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

Abstract

In this work, we have studied the microstructures, nanodomains, polarization preservation behaviors, and electrical properties of BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 (BFMO) multiferroic thin films, which have been epitaxially created on the substrates of SrRuO3, SrTiO3, and TiN-buffered (001)-oriented Si at different oxygen pressures via piezoresponse force microscopy and conductive atomic force microscopy. We found that the pure phase state, inhomogeneous piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) response, low leakage current with unidirectional diode-like properties, and orientation-dependent polarization reversal properties were found in BFMO thin films deposited at low oxygen pressure. Meanwhile, these films under high oxygen pressures resulted in impurities in the secondary phase in BFMO films, which caused a greater leakage that hindered the polarization preservation capability. Thus, this shows the important impact of the oxygen pressure on modulating the physical effects of BFMO films.

Epitaxial Growth of Orthorhombic GaFeO3 Thin Films on SrTiO3 (111) Substrates by Simple Sol-Gel Method

“…Multiferroic materials possessing magnetic and electric properties simultaneously in the single phase, supply a favorable method to design new devices with high performance. With the coupling of these two properties, these materials show interesting physics such as ferroelectric properties that can be changed by magnetic fields and ferromagnetic properties that can be controlled by electric field [1,2,3,4]. Multiferroic materials can be applied in the development of new devices like sensors [5,6,7], transducers [8,9], second harmonic generation [10] and information storage [11,12,13].…”

Improving the atomic-resolution AFM imaging of monolayer MoS2for worn tips: a molecular dynamics study

“…Since the atomic force microscope (AFM) was first developed in 1986, 1) it has been widely accepted as a versatile and useful tool for the atomic-scale imaging of conducting and insulating surfaces due to its excellent ability of recording tip-sample force interactions and atom-specific-force imaging with picometer and piconewton resolution in recent years. [2][3][4] On account of the fact that AFM experiments are strongly influenced by the interatomic interactions between the sample surface and the probe tip, 5) the tip features, such as its apex structure, 6,7) asymmetry, 8,9) and chemical identity, 10) are significant in obtaining imaging features with the atomic resolution. In general, sample topography recorded by an AFM is considered to be more exquisite with a sharper tip.…”