K. Au

Palladium Nanoparticle Enhanced Giant Photoresponse at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Heterostructures

With LaAlO3 surface modification by Pd nanoparticles, LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) interfacial two-dimensional electron gas presents a giant optical switching effect with a photoconductivity on/off ratio as high as 750% under UV light irradiation. Pd nanoparticles with a size around 2 nm are deposited on top of the LAO surface, and the LAO/STO interface exhibits a giant response to UV light with a wavelength shorter than 400 nm. This giant optical switching behavior has been explained by the Pd nanoparticles catalytic effect and surface/interface charge coupling.

Nanoscale ferroelectric tunnel junctions based on ultrathin BaTiO3 film and Ag nanoelectrodes

In this work, Ag nanoisland electrodes (nanoelectrodes) have been deposited on top of ultrathin ferroelectric BaTiO3 (BTO) films to form a nanoscale metal-ferroelectric-metal tunnel junction by integrating growth techniques of nanocluster beam source and laser-molecular beam epitaxy. The ultrathin BTO films (∼3 nm thick) exhibit both apparent ferroelectric polarization reversal and ferroelectric tunneling related resistive switching behaviors. The introducing of Ag nanoislands (∼20 nm in diameter) as top electrode substantially enhances the tunneling current and alters the symmetry of I-V hysteresis curves. The enhanced tunneling current is likely due to the reduction in tunneling barrier height and an increase in effective tunneling area by Ag nano-electrodes, while the improved symmetric in I-V curve may be attributed to the variation of electrode-oxide contact geometry.

Polar Liquid Molecule Induced Transport Property Modulation at LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Heterointerface

IO N New and unexpected physical properties that are absent in their individual bulk constituents have triggered intensive research interest in polar oxide heterointerfaces. [ 1 ] One sparkling example is the discovery of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) generated at the interface between two band insulators, LaAlO 3 (LAO) and SrTiO 3 (STO), [ 2 , 3 ] which has revealed intriguing electronic properties [ 4–8 ] and a rich superconducting phase diagram [ 9 , 10 ] at low temperature. These signifi cant results promise potential applications of this oxide interface in new generation of electronics. [ 11 , 12 ]

Enhanced resistive switching effect in Ag nanoparticle embedded BaTiO3 thin films

Ag nanoparticle (NP) embedded BaTiO3 (BTO) thin films on SrRuO3-coated SrTiO3 (STO) substrates are prepared by the integrated nanocluster beam deposition and laser-molecular beam epitaxy. Enhanced resistive switching, up to an ON/OFF ration of 104, has been achieved at low switching voltage (less than 1 V) without a forming voltage. These characteristics make such nanocomposite film very promising for application of low voltage non-volatile random access memory. The enhanced resistive switching effect may be attributed to the charge storage effect of the Ag nanoparticles and easy formation of Ag filament inside the BTO film.

Low-field Switching Four-state Nonvolatile Memory Based on Multiferroic Tunnel Junctions.

Multiferroic tunneling junction based four-state non-volatile memories are very promising for future memory industry since this kind of memories hold the advantages of not only the higher density by scaling down memory cell but also the function of magnetically written and electrically reading. In this work, we demonstrate a success of this four-state memory in a material system of NiFe/BaTiO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 with improved memory characteristics such as lower switching field and larger tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR). Ferroelectric switching induced resistive change memory with OFF/ON ratio of 16 and 0.3% TMR effect have been achieved in this multiferroic tunneling structure.

Facile fabrication of highly ordered poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) nanodot arrays for organic ferroelectric memory

Nano-patterned ferroelectric materials have attracted significant attention as the presence of two or more thermodynamically equivalent switchable polarization states can be employed in many applications such as non-volatile memory. In this work, a simple and effective approach for fabrication of highly ordered poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) P(VDF-TrFE) nanodot arrays is demonstrated. By using a soft polydimethylsiloxane mold, we successfully transferred the 2D array pattern from the initial monolayer of colloidal polystyrene nanospheres to the imprinted P(VDF-TrFE) films via nanoimprinting. The existence of a preferred orientation of the copolymer chain after nanoimprinting was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra. Local polarization switching behavior was measured by piezoresponse force microscopy, and each nanodot showed well-formed hysteresis curve and butterfly loop with a coercive field of ∼62.5 MV/m. To illustrate the potential application of these ordered P(VDF-TrFE) nanodot arrays, the writing and reading process as non-volatile memory was demonstrated at a relatively low voltage. As such, our results offer a facile and promising route to produce arrays of ferroelectric polymer nanodots with improved piezoelectric functionality.