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Johann T, Xie W, Roosta S, Elstner M, Kemerink M. Theory for nonlinear conductivity switching in semiconducting organic ferroelectrics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:18837-18846. [PMID: 38940915 DOI: 10.1039/d4cp01632g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
In this work, the ferroelectric and semiconducting properties of the organic semiconducting ferroelectric benzotrithiophene tricarboxamide (BTTTA), and especially their nonlinear coupling, are theoretically investigated. BTTTA is an exponent of a small class of semiconducting organic ferroelectrics for which experiments have established a surprising polarization direction dependence of the bulk conductivity at finite fields. First, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to investigate the occurrence and, under the influence of an external electric field, the inversion of the macroscopic electric dipole that forms along the axis of supramolecular columns of BTTTA. The MD results are consistent with the experimentally observed ferroelectric behavior of the material. Building on the MD results, a QM/MM scheme is used to investigate the charge carrier mobility in the quasi-1D BTTTA stacks in the linear and non-linear regimes. Indeed, at finite electric fields, a clear resistance switching effect was observed in the form of a hole mobility that is a factor ∼2 larger for antiparallel orientations of the polarization and field than for a parallel orientation. This phenomenon can be understood as a microscopic ratchet that is based on the non-equilibrium interaction between the (oriented) dipoles and the (direction of the) charge transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- Till Johann
- Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Weiwei Xie
- Institute of Physical Chemistry (IPC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), State Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Power Sources, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Sara Roosta
- Institute of Physical Chemistry (IPC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Marcus Elstner
- Institute of Physical Chemistry (IPC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
| | - Martijn Kemerink
- Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
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Urbanaviciute I, Garcia-Iglesias M, Gorbunov A, Meijer EW, Kemerink M. Ferro- and ferrielectricity and negative piezoelectricity in thioamide-based supramolecular organic discotics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023. [PMID: 37325999 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp00982c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Amide-based discotic supramolecular organic materials are of interest for fundamental understanding of cooperative self-assembly and collective dipole switching mechanisms as well as for practically relevant ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Here, we show how replacing amides (dipole moment of ∼3.5 D) with thioamides (∼5.1 D) as dipolar moieties in the archetypal C3-symmetric discotic molecule BTA leads to ferroelectric materials with a higher remnant polarization and lower coercive field. The thioamide-based materials also demonstrate a rare negative piezoelectricity and a previously predicted, yet never experimentally observed, polarization reversal via asymmetric intermediate states, that is, ferrielectric switching.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indre Urbanaviciute
- Complex Materials and Devices, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden.
| | - Miguel Garcia-Iglesias
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- QUIPRE Department, Universidad de Cantabria, Avd. de Los Castros, 46, 39005 Santander, Spain
| | - Andrey Gorbunov
- Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - E W Meijer
- Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Martijn Kemerink
- Complex Materials and Devices, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden.
- Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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Thi Nguyen MH, Pham TT, Van La N, Chen SK, Nguyen TH. Study and Simulation of the Electric Field-Induced Spin Switching in PZT/NiFe/CoFe Nanostructured Composites. PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.47836/pjst.31.3.22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
In this work, we have studied the electric field-induced spin switching in the PZT/NiFe/CoFe nanostructured composites by sputtering ferromagnetic layers on a horizontal polarized piezoelectric PZT substrate. The electric field-induced change in the magnetization orientation was investigated systematically using a vibrating sample magnetometer and analytical simulations. The results revealed that electric field applications could indirectly control the magnetic spin orientations. Moreover, the magnetization change depends not only on the electric field but also on the direction of the electric field applying against the magnetic field. The images of magnetic moment orientations under various electric field applications are modeled by the Monte Carlo and NMAG simulations. In particular, a critical electric field of Ecr ≈ 300 kV/cm, which makes a 90o spin switching, was determined. These results are proposed to offer an opportunity for random access memory applications.
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Chen J, Wu K, Hu W, Yang J. High-Throughput Inverse Design for 2D Ferroelectric Rashba Semiconductors. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:20035-20046. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c08827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jiajia Chen
- Department of Chemical Physics, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, Anhui Center for Applied Mathematics, and School of Data Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui230026, China
| | - Kai Wu
- Department of Chemical Physics, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, Anhui Center for Applied Mathematics, and School of Data Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui230026, China
| | - Wei Hu
- Department of Chemical Physics, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, Anhui Center for Applied Mathematics, and School of Data Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui230026, China
| | - Jinlong Yang
- Department of Chemical Physics, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, Anhui Center for Applied Mathematics, and School of Data Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui230026, China
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Korlepara DB, Balasubramanian S. Dipolar relaxation in thin films of supramolecular stacks of benzenecarboxamides and insights to enhance their ferroelectric characteristics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:3152-3159. [PMID: 33496287 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp05239f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The relationship between molecular structure and ferroelectric behaviour of thin films is explored in an all-organic supramolecular polymer material based on benzenecarboxamides, using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. While increasing the number of amide groups around the phenyl core increases the dipole density of a molecule, increasing the length of the corresponding alkyl groups decreases the same. The interplay between these two contributions displays a rich behaviour on key material characteristics, in particular, the polarisation retention time. The latter is shown to be inversely proportional to the alkyl chain length, a consequence of weaker interactions between macrodipoles of stacks. Polarisation retention time was observed to be the highest in a molecule with five amide groups around the aromatic phenyl core which is explained as due to the large barrier for amide group rotation, which is one of the crucial channels for dipolar relaxation. Simulations also demonstrate that the barrier, however, does not affect the switchability of polarization, upon field reversal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Divya B Korlepara
- Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur P. O., Bangalore 560064, India.
| | - Sundaram Balasubramanian
- Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur P. O., Bangalore 560064, India.
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Jangizehi A, Schmid F, Besenius P, Kremer K, Seiffert S. Defects and defect engineering in Soft Matter. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:10809-10859. [PMID: 33306078 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm01371d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Soft matter covers a wide range of materials based on linear or branched polymers, gels and rubbers, amphiphilic (macro)molecules, colloids, and self-assembled structures. These materials have applications in various industries, all highly important for our daily life, and they control all biological functions; therefore, controlling and tailoring their properties is crucial. One way to approach this target is defect engineering, which aims to control defects in the material's structure, and/or to purposely add defects into it to trigger specific functions. While this approach has been a striking success story in crystalline inorganic hard matter, both for mechanical and electronic properties, and has also been applied to organic hard materials, defect engineering is rarely used in soft matter design. In this review, we present a survey on investigations on defects and/or defect engineering in nine classes of soft matter composed of liquid crystals, colloids, linear polymers with moderate degree of branching, hyperbranched polymers and dendrimers, conjugated polymers, polymeric networks, self-assembled amphiphiles and proteins, block copolymers and supramolecular polymers. This overview proposes a promising role of this approach for tuning the properties of soft matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Jangizehi
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Department of Chemistry, Duesbergweg 10-14, D-55128 Mainz, Germany
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Nguyen ML, Cho BK. Ferroelectrically Switchable Axial Polarization in Columnar Liquid Crystalline Phases. Chemistry 2020; 26:6964-6975. [PMID: 31785012 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201904884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2019] [Revised: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Recently, ferroelectrically switchable columnar LCs have drawn a great deal of attention for their generation of rich polarization domains. Because of their unique dielectric and self-assembly properties, they are considered to be a promising material for the design of sensors and ultra-high memory devices. Herein, ferroelectrically switchable LCs by using ester, amide, and 1,2,3-triazole groups are reviewed. Most of them do not exhibit genuine ferroelectricity owing to the low energy barrier between the two polar states. The intermolecular interactions between polar groups strongly affect the switchability and stability of polarization. Therefore, it is challenging to balance these two competing factors to improve the ferroelectric function in columnar LCs. Overall, additional effort, including LC design and device fabrication, should be made to optimize the material performance for practical applications in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manh Linh Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, Dankook University, 119, Dandae-ro, Chungnam, 448-701, Korea
| | - Byoung-Ki Cho
- Department of Chemistry, Dankook University, 119, Dandae-ro, Chungnam, 448-701, Korea
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Urbanaviciute I, Bhattacharjee S, Biler M, Lugger JAM, Cornelissen TD, Norman P, Linares M, Sijbesma RP, Kemerink M. Suppressing depolarization by tail substitution in an organic supramolecular ferroelectric. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:2069-2079. [PMID: 30638230 DOI: 10.1039/c8cp06315j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Despite being very well established in the field of electro-optics, ferroelectric liquid crystals so far lacked interest from a ferroelectric device perspective due to a typically high operating temperature, a modest remnant polarization and/or poor polarization retention. Here, we experimentally demonstrate how simple structural modification of a prototypical ferroelectric liquid-crystal benzene-1,3,5-trisamide (BTA) - introduction of branched-tail substituents - results in materials with a wide operating temperature range and a data retention time of more than 10 years in thin-film solution-processed capacitor devices at room temperature. The observed differences between linear- and branched-tail compounds are analyzed using density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We conclude that morphological factors like improved packing quality and reduced disorder, rather than electrostatic interactions or intra/inter-columnar steric hindrance, underlay the superior properties of the branched-tailed BTAs. Synergistic effects upon blending of compounds with branched and linear side-chains can be used to further improve the materials' characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indre Urbanaviciute
- Complex Materials and Devices, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden.
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Casellas NM, Urbanaviciute I, Cornelissen TD, Berrocal JA, Torres T, Kemerink M, García-Iglesias M. Resistive switching in an organic supramolecular semiconducting ferroelectric. Chem Commun (Camb) 2019; 55:8828-8831. [PMID: 31140995 DOI: 10.1039/c9cc02466b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The combination of switchable dipolar side groups and the semiconducting core of the newly synthetized C3-symmetric benzotrithiophene molecule (BTTTA) leads to an ordered columnar material showing continuous tunability from injection- to bulk-limited conductivity modulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás M Casellas
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Calle Francisco Tomás y Valiente, 7, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
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