Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
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KR: Fachgruppe Kristallographie
KR 3: Poster Session on Ferroic Domain Walls - Multiferroics (DF jointly with KR, MA, TT)
KR 3.9: Poster
Monday, March 16, 2015, 19:00–21:00, Poster C
Domain wall conductivity in gold-patterned single-crystal bulk samples using c-AFM — •Thorsten Adolphs and Elisabeth Soergel — Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn, Wegelerstrasse 8, 53115 Bonn
Domain wall conductivity is generally measured by c-AFM, thereby applying moderate voltages between the tip and a large-area back electrode. This technique being very attractive because of its ease of use it has, however, a couple of drawbacks: (i) the voltage applied to the tip leads to electric fields at the tip apex locally exceeding Ec. Since the displacement of a domain wall is energetically favorable (when compared to the creation of new domains), local poling predominantly takes place at the domain walls, leading to a local poling current which is also seen by c-AFM; (ii) the electrical connection between the tip and the domain wall is not reliable; and (iii) different materials of the tip and the back electrode might lead to Schottky-barrier behavior of the domain-wall current. In order to overcome these drawbacks, we propose the use of small, some µm2-sized gold-patterns evaporated on top of the sample surface, partially connecting to the domain walls. We will present first experimental results obtained with bulk, single crystalline samples prepared for c-AFM in such a way.