Depletion region width of a ferroelectric heterostructure interface by surface potential measurements under illumination
A method for measuring the depletion region width at oxide heterostructure interfaces is developed. It is demonstrated on bismuth ferrite--chromite thin films that exhibit p-type behavior and form a p--n-like junction when grown on a Nb-doped strontium titanate substrate. Using surface photovoltage measurements with Kelvin probe force microscopy under illumination on films of different thicknesses, a maximum SPV response is identified, revealing the depletion region width. This width also enables estimation of the acceptor concentration in the film, providing a non-destructive approach to probing ferroelectric heterostructures.
Authors
- Marc Lenertz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7144-9954)
- S. Colis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1853-5188)
- M. V. Rastei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3927-1409)
- X. Henning (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6780-6995)
- Thomas Fix (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1531-725X)
- A. Dinia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3299-7998)
- C. Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0807-3785)
- A. Bagard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7092-2564)
Institutions
- Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Ingénieur, de l'Informatique et de l'Imagerie (FR)
- Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (FR)
- Université de Strasbourg (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Materials
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/8ctp-3531
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.52