Depletion layers and domain walls in semiconducting ferroelectric thin films

Commonly used ferroelectric perovskites are also wide-band-gap semiconductors. In such materials, the polarization and the space-charge distribution are intimately coupled, and this Letter studies them simultaneously with no a priori ansatz on either. In particular, we study the structure of domain walls and the depletion layers that form at the metal-ferroelectric interfaces. We find the coupling between polarization and space charges leads to the formation of charge double layers at the 90 degrees domain walls, which, like the depletion layers, are also decorated by defects like oxygen vacancies. In contrast, the 180 degrees domain walls do not interact with the defects or space charges. Implications of these results to domain switching and fatigue in ferroelectric devices are discussed.