The transport properties of domain walls in oxygen deficient multiferroic YMnO 3 single crystals have been probed using conductive atomic force microscopy and piezoresponse force microscopy. Domain walls exhibit significantly enhanced conductance after being poled in electric fields, possibly induced by oxygen vacancy ordering at domain walls. The electronic conduction can be understood by the Schottky emission and Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling mechanisms. Our results show that the domain wall conductance can be modulated through band structure engineering by manipulating ordered oxygen vacancies in the poling fields.
A high-speed atomic force microscope for scanning large areas, utilizing a quartz bar driven close to resonance to provide the motion in the fast scan axis is presented. Images up to 170 × 170 μm have been obtained on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) grating in 1 s. This is provided through an average tip-sample velocity of 28 cm s at a line rate of 830 Hz. Scan areas up to 80 × 80 μm have been obtained in 0.42 s with a line rate of 1410 Hz. To demonstrate the capability of the scanner the spherulitic crystallization of a semicrystalline polymer was imaged in situ at high speed.
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