Pressure-tuning ferroelectric relaxation process in BaFe4O7
Low-energy ferroelectric photocurrent switches hold promise for optoelectronic devices and digital logic gates. Pressure, a clean and efficient method for microstructure tuning, can significantly affect the polarization photocurrent relaxation process. Upon negative poling, the photocurrent switching in a narrow bandgap ferroelectric BaFe4O7 single crystal from a negative direction to a positive direction during polarization photocurrent relaxation was observed under pressure. Notably, this photocurrent switching time (τ) is boosted up by more than ten folds, from 0.2 to 5 GPa, followed by a slow reduction to around 20 GPa. The very low pressure (0.2 GPa) that induces the PPR process and the τ tuned by slight lattice distortions highlight the feasibility of environmental pressure control of PPR in ferroelectric materials for practical applications. This pressure-induced behavior arises from the coupled effect of the ferroelectric remanent field and micro-ferroelectric domain relaxation process after the external poling electric field is removed. The broad range of switching times under pressure allows one to precisely control the photoelectric switch applications.
Authors
- Jiayi Guan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0325-1537)
- Limin Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9521-7813)
- Xuqiang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6419-886X)
- Yong Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2011-7241)
- Wenge Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8436-8731)
- Ganghua Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3603-6879)
- Bihan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1223-503X)
- Zhen Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4895-0948)
- Mingtao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1594-8008)
- Nana Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2510-5952)
- Xiang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4013-0259)
Institutions
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY (DE)
- Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN)
- Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (CN)
- Shanghai Institute of Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Physics Letters
- Published
- 2025-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0264337
- Primary Topic
- Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents
- National Key Research and Development Program of China