Role of domain walls in the abnormal photovoltaic effect in BiFeO3

Recently, the anomalous photovoltaic (PV) effect in BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films, which resulted in open circuit voltages (Voc ) considerably larger than the band gap of the material, has generated a revival of the entire field of photoferroelectrics. Here, via temperature-dependent PV studies, we prove...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature communications Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 2835
Main Authors Bhatnagar, Akash, Roy Chaudhuri, Ayan, Heon Kim, Young, Hesse, Dietrich, Alexe, Marin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group 27.11.2013
Nature Pub. Group
Subjects
Electrodes
Geometry
Single crystals
Germany
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Summary:Recently, the anomalous photovoltaic (PV) effect in BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films, which resulted in open circuit voltages (Voc ) considerably larger than the band gap of the material, has generated a revival of the entire field of photoferroelectrics. Here, via temperature-dependent PV studies, we prove that the bulk photovoltaic (BPV) effect, which has been studied in the past for many non-centrosymmetric materials, is at the origin of the anomalous PV effect in BFO films. Moreover, we show that irrespective of the measurement geometry, Voc as high as 50 V can be achieved by controlling the conductivity of domain walls (DW). We also show that photoconductivity of the DW is markedly higher than in the bulk of BFO.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms3835