For many decades, electrical hardware has been realised by configuring fixed electronic components using fixed hard-wired connections. There has, however, been a recognition that an alternative could be useful, in which electrical connections could be actively reconfigured as part of the operation of the electronic system itself. “Adaptive circuitry” of this kind is already in existence and the concept seems likely to gain ground in applications over the coming years. Extending this idea to the point where entire devices could be controllably created, moved and destroyed dynamically is, however, completely new and could lead to a revolutionary alternative paradigm in electronics. Ferroelectric domain walls may offer the first opportunity to explore this paradigm shift. It is now well established that some domain walls show much larger conductivity than the domains that they enclose and that active carriers can be both p and n type. Domain wall intersections can therefore, in principle, create 1D p-n junctions that are innately nanoscale. Moreover, because domain walls can be created, moved and annihilated, the opportunity for "now-you-see-it-now-you-don't" device deployment is real. This talk will explore recent progress in developing conducting domain walls with specific carrier types [1], controlling the motion and injection of these domain walls [2,3] and creating and investigating p-n junctions formed at domain wall intersections.
References
[1] M. P. Campbell et al. Nature Commun. 7, 13764 (2016).
[2] J. R. Whyte and J. M. Gregg, Nature Commun. 6, 7361 (2015).
[3] R. G. P. McQuaid et al. Nature Commun. (2017). No prelo.