For a long time, ferroelectric materials have been touted as one of the most promising classes of materials to be used for next-generation electronic devices that would be smaller, faster, more powerful and consume less energy than existing ones. However, making them a feasible option is not easy, because of the technical challenges that prevent them from being mass-produced. Now, researchers have finally managed to measure intrinsic conducting properties of ferroelectric materials.

Experts at the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have been behind the new investigation, which may help the scientific community finally devise the new material in a way that would ensure it can be readily used in electronic devices. With potential applications in piezoactuators, memory devices and RFID (radio-frequency identification) cards, ferroelectric materials have been theorized for decades, but never before demonstrated in the lab.

“For years, the challenge has been to develop a nanoscale material that can act as a switch to store binary information. We are excited by our discovery and the prospect of finally being able to exploit the long-conjectured bi-stable electrical conductivity of ferroelectric materials. Harnessing this functionality will ultimately enable smart and ultra-dense memory technology,” ORNL Wigner Fellow Peter Maksymovych, the lead investigator for the new study, explains.

The ORNL team created a giant intrinsic electroresistance, which the scientists then placed inside conventional ferroelectric films. When switching the spontaneous polarization inside the mix, the group obtained a 50,000-percent increase in conductance for the ferroelectric material. “It is as if we open a tiny door in the polar surface for electrons to enter. The size of this door is less than one-millionth of an inch, and it is very likely taking only one-billionth of a second to open,” the expert adds.

A study detailing the finds, entitled “Polarization control of electron tunneling into ferroelectric surfaces,” appears in a recent issue of the respected journal Science. The Office of Basic Energy Sciences within the Department of Energy's Office of Science has been the main funder for the research.