Configurable Crack Wall Conduction in a Complex Oxide

Mobile defects in solid-state materials play a significant role in memristive switching and energy-efficient neuromorphic computation. Techniques for confining and manipulating point defects may have great promise for low-dimensional memories. Here, we report the spontaneous gathering of oxygen vacancies at strain-relaxed crack walls in SrTiO3 thin films grown on DyScO3 substrates as a result of flexoelectricity. We found that electronic conductance at the crack walls was enhanced compared to the crack-free region, by a factor of 104. A switchable asymmetric diode-like feature was also observed, and the mechanism is discussed, based on the electrical migration of oxygen vacancy donors in the background of Sr-deficient acceptors forming n+-n or n-n+ junctions. By tracing the temporal relaxations of surface potential and lattice expansion of a formed region, we determine the diffusivity of mobile defects in crack walls to be 1.4 x 10-16 cm2/s, which is consistent with oxygen vacancy kinetics.

Automated summary

We report a technique for the spontaneous gathering of oxygen vacancies at strain-relaxed crack walls using flexoelectricity. Enhanced electronic conductance and a switchable diode-like feature were observed at the crack walls. The diffusivity of mobile defects in crack walls was determined to be 1.4 x 10-16 cm2/s, consistent with oxygen vacancy kinetics.