Persistent photoconductivity in strained epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films.

Bhatnagar, Akash; Kim, Young Heon; Hesse, Dietrich; Alexe, Marin · Nano Lett · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A drastic change in the conductivity of strained BiFeO3 (BFO) films is observed after illuminating them with above-band gap light. This has been termed as persistent photoconductivity. The enhanced conductivity decays exponentially with time. A trapping character of the sub-band levels and their subsequent gradual emptying is proposed as a possible mechanism.