Effects of Growth Conditions on the Formation of Self-assembly Grown Topological Domain in BiFeO3 Nanoislands

doi:10.15541/jim20240543

Abstract

Abstract:

Ferroelectric topological domain structures exhibit rich physical properties, displaying a wide range of application potential for next-generation nanoelectronic devices. The fundamental issue for the applications of topological devices lies in the precise design and control of ferroelectric topological domain states. Here, the effects of growth conditions on center-type quadrant topological domain configurations in BiFeO₃ (BFO) nanoislands formed through bending-induced bulges were investigated, which were generated by underlying electrode SrRuO₃ (SRO) nanoislands. The experimental results indicate that the formation of central-type topological domains is closely related to the growing conductions of SRO electrode nanoislands, nanoislands dimensions, temperature of BFO epitaxial growth, and BFO deposition thickness. When the lateral size of the electrode nanoislands ranges from 300 to 400 nm, the subsequently grown BFO thin film with nanoislands, and central-type four-quadrant topological domains can be induced by the underlying electrode protrusions. As the height of the electrode nanoislands gradually increases, the domain structure of the ferroelectric nanoislands changes from stripe domains of the thin film to central-type topological domains. However, at the diameter of electrode nanoisland exceeding 500 nm, the central domain transforms into a zigzag domain-wall configuration, demonstrating the important role of flexoelectric effects induced by morphological protrusions in the formation of topological domains. Within certain growth parameters (growth temperature in the range of 690-730 ℃ and BFO thickness in the range of 30-60 nm), increasing the growth temperature facilitates formation of complete four-quadrant central-type topological domains, revealing synergistic interactions among defects, domain wall energy, and flexoelectric effects on the formation of central domain states. This central-type topological domain can also be switched by external field, and simultaneously induce switching between high/low conductive states, laying a foundation for the further construction of polarization topological electronic devices.

Key words: BiFeO₃, self-assembly, nanoisland array, central-type topological domain, flexoelectric effect

CLC Number:

O469

ZHOU Houlin, SONG Zhiqing, TIAN Guo, GAO Xingsen. Effects of Growth Conditions on the Formation of Self-assembly Grown Topological Domain in BiFeO₃ Nanoislands[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2025, 40(6): 667-674.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 (a) Schematic diagram illustrating procedures of fabricating the BFO nanoisland arrays with templated growth strategy; (b-d) Images of sample surface at each fabrication stage

Fig. 2 Schematic illustration of the growth mechanism of BFO nanoislands (a) Preferential nucleation process of BFO during self-assembly; (b) Coexistence of two growth modes during the self-assembly process on the SRO nanoisland arrays; (c) Formation of self-assembled BFO nanoislands; (d) SEM image of growing ~30 nm of BFO nanoislands (corresponding to the growth stage in (b)); (e) SEM image of well-ordered BFO nanoisland arrays (corresponding to the growth stage in (c)). Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 3 Crystal structure and topological domain analysis of BFO nanoisland arrays (a) XRD pattern of BFO nanoisland arrays, where ■ denotes the impurity peaks generated in the substrate; (b) Piezoresponse hysteresis loops acquired on a randomly selected nanoisland exhibiting amplitude butterfly loop (blue) and phase hysteresis loop (red); (c, d) Vertical PFM phase image (c) and lateral PFM phase image (d) of BFO nanoisland arrays; (e) Schematic of 3D domain structures. Sample preparation conditions: 710 ℃, BFO thickness of 50 nm, SRO nanoisland height of 30 nm, and lateral size of 300 nm. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 4 Tunable conductivity in BFO nanoisland arrays (a) Phase images of the domain structures in BFO nanoislands before and after resistive switching between high-low resistance states, in which a write voltage of -5.0 V was applied within the red dashed box; (b) CAFM images of the nanoislands before and after resistive switching between high-low resistance states, in which a -5.0 V voltage is written in the blue dashed box. Sample preparation conditions: 710 ℃, BFO thickness of 50 nm, SRO nanoisland height of 30 nm, and lateral size of 300 nm. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 5 Effect of SRO nanoisland height on the topological domain structure of BFO nanoislands (a-i) Morphologies (a-c), lat-phase (d-f) and lat-amplitude (g-i) PFM images of BFO nanoisland arrays analyzed as a function of SRO nanoisland height (0, 5 and 30 nm); (j-l) Schematic diagrams of different domain structures formed at heights of 0, 5 and 30 nm (from left to right), respectively. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 6 Effect of lateral dimensions of SRO nanoislands on topological domain structure of BFO nanoislands (a-i) Morphologies (a-c), lat-phase (d-f) and ver-phase (g-i) PFM images of BFO nanoislands with varying lateral dimensions, including isolated BFO nanoislands with ~300 and ~500 nm diameters, as well as a wide BFO nanoisland chain of ~500 nm (from left to right); (j, k) Schematic diagrams of quad-domain texture and chain-shaped zigzag domain structure. Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 7 Effects of thickness and growth temperature on the central-type domain structure of BFO nanoislands PFM phase images of BFO nanoislands grown at 690, 710, and 730 ℃, with corresponding thickness gradients of 30, 40, 50, and 60 nm, respectively. Colorful figures are available on website

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Effects of Growth Conditions on the Formation of Self-assembly Grown Topological Domain in BiFeO₃ Nanoislands

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