Crystal Engineering and Ferroelectricity at the Nanoscale in Epitaxial 1D Manganese Oxide on Silicon

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the synthesis of ferroelectric and piezoelectric nanowire films of a novel manganese oxide on silicon, revealing their potential for flexible electronic devices and integration into silicon technology.

Contribution

It introduces a new nanostructured manganese oxide with ferroelectric properties, fabricated on silicon, advancing nanoscale ferroelectric material integration.

Findings

Revealed ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity in SMO nanowires at room temperature.

Measured a piezoelectric coefficient d33 of 22.6 pC/N.

Showed that flexible SMO nanowires can generate electric energy through deformation.

Abstract

Ferroelectric oxides have attracted much attention due to their wide range of applications, especially in electronic devices such as nonvolatile memories and tunnel junctions. As a result, the monolithic integration of these materials into silicon technology and its nanostructuration to develop alternative cost-effective processes are among the central points in current technology. In this work, we used a chemical route to obtain nanowire thin films of a novel Sr1+{\delta}Mn8O16 (SMO) hollandite-type manganese oxide on silicon. Scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with crystallographic computing reveals a crystal structure comprising hollandite and pyrolusite units sharing the edges of their MnO6 octahedra, resulting in three types of tunnels arranged along the c axis, where ordering of the Sr atoms produces a natural symmetry breaking. The novel structure gives rise to a ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity, as revealed by local Direct Piezoelectric Force Microscopy measurements, which confirmed the ferroelectric nature of SMO nanowire thin films at room temperature and showed a piezoelectric coefficient d33 value of 22,6 pC/N. Moreover, we proved that flexible vertical SMO nanowires can be harvested and converted into electric output energy through the piezoelectric effect, showing an excellent deformability and high interface recombination. This work indicates the possibility of engineering the integration of 1D manganese oxides on silicon, a step which precedes the production of microelectronic devices.