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Room-Temperature Persistent Photoconductivity in Barium Calcium Titanate

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Abstract

Barium calcium titanate (Ba1-xCaxTiO3, BCTO) annealed under a flowing humid 2% hydrogen–argon gas mixture exhibits room-temperature persistent photoconductivity (PPC). The annealing atmosphere was chosen to produce substitutional hydrogen impurities that can be photoexcited, leading to the PPC phenomenon. The threshold photon energy for PPC in a BCTO crystal with x = 0.15 is 2.7 eV, lower than that for BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 (2.9 eV). A significant increase in mid-infrared absorption, attributed to free carriers, was correlated with a drop in electrical resistance. This effect showed persistence for several days at room temperature. Annealing the sample in air erased the PPC, indicating that the process is reversible.

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Acknowledgments

We thank C. Remple for performing the current-voltage measurement in Supplementary Figure S3. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR- 2109334.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering Program, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Syeed E. Ahmed, Jani Jesenovec, Benjamin L. Dutton, John S. McCloy & Matthew D. McCluskey

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Syeed E. Ahmed & Matthew D. McCluskey

  3. Klar Scientific, Pullman, WA, 99163, USA

    Violet M. Poole & Matthew D. McCluskey

  4. Institute of Materials Research, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Jani Jesenovec, Benjamin L. Dutton, John S. McCloy & Matthew D. McCluskey

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Correspondence to Matthew D. McCluskey.

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V.M.P. is an employee of Klar Scientific, Inc. and M.D.M. owns equity in the company.

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Ahmed, S.E., Poole, V.M., Jesenovec, J. et al. Room-Temperature Persistent Photoconductivity in Barium Calcium Titanate. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 2499–2504 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-10205-9

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