Yu Qiuhong, Ge Rui, Wen Juan, Xu Qi, Lu Zhouguang, Liu Shuhai, Qin Yong
Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, School of Materials and Energy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
Henan Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Energy Storage Materials and Applications, School of Physics and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan, China.
Nat Commun. 2024 May 18;15(1):4245. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48451-6.
Investigating interface engineering by piezoelectric, flexoelectric and ferroelectric polarizations in semiconductor devices is important for their applications in electronics, optoelectronics, catalysis and many more. The interface engineering by polarizations strongly depends on the property of interface barrier. However, the fixed value and uncontrollability of interface barrier once it is constructed limit the performance and application scenarios of interface engineering by polarizations. Here, we report a strategy of tuning piezotronic effect (interface barrier and transport controlled by piezoelectric polarization) reversibly and accurately by electric pulse. Our results show that for Ag/HfO/n-ZnO piezotronic tunneling junction, the interface barrier height can be reversibly tuned as high as 168.11 meV by electric pulse, and the strain (0-1.34‰) modulated current range by piezotronic effect can be switched from 0-18 nA to 44-72 nA. Moreover, piezotronic modification on interface barrier tuned by electric pulse can be up to 148.81 meV under a strain of 1.34‰, which can totally switch the piezotronic performance of the electronics. This study provides opportunities to achieve reversible control of piezotronics, and extend them to a wider range of scenarios and be better suitable for micro/nano-electromechanical systems.
研究半导体器件中压电、挠曲电和铁电极化引起的界面工程对于其在电子、光电子、催化等诸多领域的应用至关重要。极化引起的界面工程很大程度上取决于界面势垒的性质。然而，一旦构建好，界面势垒的固定值和不可控性限制了极化引起的界面工程的性能和应用场景。在此，我们报道了一种通过电脉冲可逆且精确地调节压电子效应（由压电极化控制的界面势垒和输运）的策略。我们的结果表明，对于Ag/HfO/n-ZnO压电子隧穿结，通过电脉冲可将界面势垒高度可逆地调节高达168.11毫电子伏特，并且压电子效应调制的应变（0 - 1.34‰）电流范围可从0 - 18纳安切换到44 - 72纳安。此外，在1.34‰的应变下，电脉冲调节的界面势垒上的压电子修饰可达148.81毫电子伏特，这可以完全切换电子器件的压电子性能。本研究为实现压电子学的可逆控制提供了机会，并将其扩展到更广泛的场景，使其更适合微纳机电系统。
