Abstract
Low temperature potentiometry and capacitance measurements based on noncontact atomic force microscopy were used to quantify local properties due to grain boundaries at a 0.05 wt.% Nb-doped SrTiO3 [001] surface. Local I-V curves were constructed by combining potential steps and transport currents measured at individual grain boundaries (GBs) under different lateral biases. The GBs exhibit a positive temperature coefficient of resistivity (PTCR) effect. A comparison of transport properties and calculations suggest that SrTiO3 grain boundaries undergo a non-polar to polar state phase transition induced by the large electric field associated with the boundary charge. This is supported by the temperature dependence of the barrier height and the boundary charge obtained by numerical simulation of I-V curves using a double Schottky barrier model. The built-in potential associated with the boundary was directly imaged with frequency-modulated Kelvin probe force microscopy at different temperatures and the results support the previous conclusion.
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Shao, R., Bonnell, D.A. Interface mediated transport properties in n-type SrTiO3 : Induced dipole alignment at oxide grain boundaries. J Electroceram 17, 211–219 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10832-006-7537-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10832-006-7537-0