Comparative study of photo-induced electronic transport along ferroelectric domain walls in lithium niobate single crystals

Ferroelectric domain wall conductivity (DWC) is an intriguing and promising functional property that can be elegantly controlled and steered through a variety of external stimuli such as electric and mechanical fields. Optical-field control, as a noninvasive and flexible tool, has rarely been applied so far, but it significantly expands the possibility for both tuning and probing DWC. On the one hand, as known from second-harmonic or Raman micro-spectroscopy, the optical approach provides information on DW distribution and inclination, while simultaneously probing the DW vibrational modes; on the other hand, photons might be applied to directly generate charge carriers, thereby acting as a functional and spectrally tunable probe to deduce the local absorption properties and bandgaps of conductive DWs. Here, we report on investigating the photo-induced DWC (PI-DWC) of three lithium niobate crystals, containing a very different number of DWs, namely: (A) none, (B) one, and (C) many conductive DWs. All three samples are inspected for their current–voltage behavior in darkness and for different illumination wavelengths swept from 500 nm down to 310 nm. All samples show their maximum PI-DWC at 310 nm; moreover, sample (C) reaches PI-DWCs of several microampere. Interestingly, a noticeable PI-DWC is also observed for sub-bandgap illumination, hinting toward the existence and decisive role of electronic in-gap states that contribute to the electronic charge transport along DWs. Finally, complementary conductive atomic force microscopy investigations under illumination proved that the PI-DWC indeed is confined to the DW area and does not originate from photo-induced bulk conductivity.