Nanoscale excitonic photovoltaic mechanism in ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films

Yuelin Li; Carolina Adamo; Clare E. Rowland; Richard D. Schaller; Darrell G. Schlom; Donald A. Walko

doi:10.1063/1.5030628

Nanoscale excitonic photovoltaic mechanism in ferroelectric BiFeO₃ thin films

Yuelin Li, Carolina Adamo, Clare E. Rowland, Richard D. Schaller, Darrell G. Schlom, Donald A. Walko

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report an electrode-free photovoltaic experiment in epitaxial BiFeO₃ thin films where the picosecond optical absorption arising from carrier dynamics and piezoelectric lattice distortion due to the photovoltaic field are correlated at nanoscale. The data strongly suggest that the photovoltaic effect in phase-pure BiFeO₃ originates from diffusion of charge-neutral excitons and their subsequent dissociation localized at sample interfaces. This is in stark contrast to the belief that carrier separation is uniform within the sample due to the lack of center of symmetry in BiFeO₃. This finding is important for formulating strategies in designing practical photovoltaic ferroelectric devices.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	084905
Journal	APL Materials
Volume	6
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5030628
State	Published - Aug 1 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Materials Science(all)
Engineering(all)

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10.1063/1.5030628

Cite this

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title = "Nanoscale excitonic photovoltaic mechanism in ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films",

abstract = "We report an electrode-free photovoltaic experiment in epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films where the picosecond optical absorption arising from carrier dynamics and piezoelectric lattice distortion due to the photovoltaic field are correlated at nanoscale. The data strongly suggest that the photovoltaic effect in phase-pure BiFeO3 originates from diffusion of charge-neutral excitons and their subsequent dissociation localized at sample interfaces. This is in stark contrast to the belief that carrier separation is uniform within the sample due to the lack of center of symmetry in BiFeO3. This finding is important for formulating strategies in designing practical photovoltaic ferroelectric devices.",

author = "Yuelin Li and Carolina Adamo and Rowland, {Clare E.} and Schaller, {Richard D.} and Schlom, {Darrell G.} and Walko, {Donald A.}",

note = "Funding Information: Work at Argonne was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357, and by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Work at Cornell University was supported by the Army Research Office through Agreement No. W911NF-08-2-0032. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Author(s).",

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AU - Schaller, Richard D.

AU - Schlom, Darrell G.

AU - Walko, Donald A.

N1 - Funding Information: Work at Argonne was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357, and by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Work at Cornell University was supported by the Army Research Office through Agreement No. W911NF-08-2-0032. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Author(s).

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N2 - We report an electrode-free photovoltaic experiment in epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films where the picosecond optical absorption arising from carrier dynamics and piezoelectric lattice distortion due to the photovoltaic field are correlated at nanoscale. The data strongly suggest that the photovoltaic effect in phase-pure BiFeO3 originates from diffusion of charge-neutral excitons and their subsequent dissociation localized at sample interfaces. This is in stark contrast to the belief that carrier separation is uniform within the sample due to the lack of center of symmetry in BiFeO3. This finding is important for formulating strategies in designing practical photovoltaic ferroelectric devices.

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