Tailoring the photocurrent in BaTiO3/Nb:SrTiO3 photoanodes by controlled ferroelectric polarization

Maxime Rioult (1) , Sukanya Datta (1) , D. Stanescu (1) , S. Stanescu (2) , R Belkhou (2) , F. Maccherozzi (3) , Hélène Magnan (1) , Antoine Barbier (1)

1 SPEC - UMR3680 - Service de physique de l'état condensé
2 SSOLEIL - Synchrotron SOLEIL
3 TASC - Laboratory TASC

We demonstrate on prototypical samples containing a ferroelectric layer (BaTiO3/Nb:SrTiO3) that the efficiency of the system, used as photoanode, substantially depends on the polarization state of theferroelectric layer. We show a significant increase of the photocurrent by a factor larger than 2 when the BaTiO3 film is downward polarized. We explain this finding by the presence of an internal electric fieldwhich favors the separation of photo-generated charges

Domains: Physics [physics]

Maxime Rioult, Sukanya Datta, D. Stanescu, S. Stanescu, R Belkhou, et al.. Tailoring the photocurrent in BaTiO3/Nb:SrTiO3 photoanodes by controlled ferroelectric polarization. Applied Physics Letters, 2015, 107, pp.103901. ⟨10.1063/1.4930814⟩. ⟨cea-01349770⟩