Crystallinity modulation originates ferroelectricity like nature in piezoelectric selenium

Authors

Alluri N.R., Maria Joseph Raj N.P., Khandelwal G., Panda P.K., Banerjee A., Mishra Y.K., Ahuja R., Kim S.J.

Reference

Nano Energy, vol. 95, art. no. 107008, 2022

Description

Modern room temperature ferroelectrics/piezoelectrics significantly impact advanced nanoelectronics than conventional chemical compounds. Changes in crystallinity modulation, long-range order of atoms in metalloids permits the design of novel materials. The ferroelectric like nature of a single element (selenium, Se) is demonstrated via in-plane (E⊥ar to the Se helical chains in micro-rod (MR)) and out-of-plane (E ∥el to the Se helical chains in MR) polarization. Atomic electron microscopy shows large stacks of covalently bound Se atoms in a c-axis orientation for tip bias voltage-dependent switchable domains with a 180˚ phase and butterfly displacement curves. The single crystalline Se MR has a high in-plane piezoelectric coefficient of 30 pm/V relative to polycrystalline samples due to larger grains, crystal imperfections in MR, and tuned helical chains. The energy conversion of a single Se-MR demonstrated via d13, d12 (or d15) piezoelectric modes.

Link

doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2022.107008