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NANOSENSORS PPP-EFM AFM tips were used in the research for this article. Have a look at the abstract or follow the external link to the full article.

Raymond G.P. McQuaid, Michael P. Campbell, Roger W. Whatmore, Amit Kumar, J. Marty Gregg
Injection and controlled motion of conducting domain walls in improper ferroelectric Cu-Cl boracite. Nat. Commun. 8, 15105 doi: 10.1038/ncomms15105 (2017).

Abstract:
Ferroelectric domain walls constitute a completely new class of sheet-like functional material. Moreover, since domain walls are generally writable, erasable and mobile, they could be useful in functionally agile devices: for example, creating and moving conducting walls could make or break electrical connections in new forms of reconfigurable nanocircuitry. However, significant challenges exist: site-specific injection and annihilation of planar walls, which show robust conductivity, has not been easy to achieve. Here, we report the observation, mechanical writing and controlled movement of charged conducting domain walls in the improper-ferroelectric Cu₃B₇O₁₃Cl. Walls are straight, tens of microns long and exist as a consequence of elastic compatibility conditions between specific domain pairs. We show that site-specific injection of conducting walls of up to hundreds of microns in length can be achieved through locally applied point-stress and, once created, that they can be moved and repositioned using applied electric fields.

Please follow this external link for the full article: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15105

The article “Injection and controlled motion of conducting domain walls in improper ferroelectric Cu-Cl boracite” by McQuaid, R. G. P. et al. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this article the authors present a  new method for torque magnetometry by using a commercially available membrane-type surface stress sensor (MSS) – the NANOSENSORS MSS. This sensor has a silicon membrane supported by four beams in which piezoresistive paths are integrated. Although originally developed as a gas sensor, it can be used for torque measurement by modifying its on-chip aluminum interconnections. The authors demonstrate the magnetic-torque measurement of submillimeter-sized crystals at low temperature and in strong magnetic fields. This MSS can observe de-Haas–van-Alphen oscillation, which confirms that it can be an alternative tool for self-sensitive microcantilevers.

Hideyuki Takahashi, Kento Ishimura, Tsubasa Okamoto, Eiji Ohmichi and Hitoshi Ohta
New Method for Torque Magnetometry Using a Commercially Available Membrane-Type Surface Stress Sensor
J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 86, 063002 (2017)
http://dx.doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.86.063002

Please follow this external link for the full article: http://journals.jps.jp/doi/10.7566/JPSJ.86.063002