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We report the electrical resistance switching of YbFe2O4, which is one of the electronic ferroelectrics and shows multi-step polarization reversal. The electrical resistance of the single crystal bulk of YbFe2O4 was measured along the c-axis. Three kinds of resistance states were observed: high resistance state (HRS), low resistance state (LRS), and extra low resistance state (ELRS). The as-grown sample was in HRS. The resistance state switched from HRS to LRS under an electric field of ∼180 V/cm. HRS was reproduced under the same magnitude of the electric field in the opposite direction. The switching from LRS to ELRS was assisted by a current flow in the ab-plane, which is orthogonal to the measurement axis (c-axis). The switching from LRS to ELRS was observed under an electric field of ∼140 V/cm during the resistance measurement along the c-axis after a current flow in the ab-plane for a few seconds. The resistance ratio in HRS, LRS, and ELRS was ∼2:1.5:1, which is regarded as a large value considering that the sample size was sub-millimeter order. This multi-step resistive switching is likely due to the multi-step reversal of electric polarization, accompanied by a multi-step change in Schottky barrier height between the sample and electrodes. The currents in the ab-plane are considered to release some pinnings and assist in the polarization reversal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the band structure of Ba-deficient BaTiO3 as a p-type semiconductor, studied by a combination of light reflectance and photoelectron yield spectroscopy. Two acceptor levels were observed at the tail of a valence band. As the quantity of Ba vacancies increased, the density of state of the two acceptor levels also increased. The levels of the conduction band minimum and the valence band maximum shifted far away from the vacuum level, but the bandgap seems to be independent of Ba deficient concentration. For classical semiconductors such as Si and GaAs, the observation of impurity levels is restricted to low temperatures (∼20 K) owing to their narrow bandgaps. Oxide semiconductors have now been demonstrated with wide bandgaps and acceptor levels, at normal operating temperatures, which could lead to new device designs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An epitaxial film of YbFe2O4, a candidate for oxide electronic ferroelectrics, was fabricated on yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrate by magnetron sputtering technique. For the film, second harmonic generation (SHG), and a terahertz radiation signal were observed at room temperature, confirming a polar structure of the film. The azimuth angle dependence of SHG shows four leaves-like profiles and is almost identical to that in a bulk single crystal. Based on tensor analyses of the SHG profiles, we could reveal the polarization structure and the relationship between the film structure of YbFe2O4 and the crystal axes of the YSZ substrate. The observed terahertz pulse showed anisotropic polarization dependence consistent with the SHG measurement, and the intensity of the emitted terahertz pulse reached about 9.2% of that emitted from ZnTe, a typical nonlinear crystal, implying that YbFe2O4 can be applied as a terahertz wave generator in which the direction of the electric field can be easily switched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to identify and develop new superconducting materials continue apace, motivated by both fundamental science and the prospects for application. For example, several new superconducting material systems have been developed in the recent past, including calcium-intercalated graphite compounds (1), boron-doped diamond (2) and-most prominently-iron arsenides such as [LaO.sub.1-x][F.sub.x]FeAs (ref. 3). In the case of organic superconductors, however, no new material system with a high superconducting transition temperature ([T.sub.c]) has been discovered in the past decade. Here we report that intercalating an alkali metal into picene, a wide-bandgap semiconducting solid hydrocarbon, produces metallic behaviour and superconductivity. Solid potassium-intercalated picene ([K.sub.x]picene) shows [T.sub.c] values of 7K and 18 K, depending on the metal content. The drop of magnetization in [K.sub.x]picene solids at the transition temperature is sharp (, The metal doping of organic molecular compounds and graphites, solids with p-electron networks, has been extensively studied in the search for novel physical properties, such as metallic behaviour and superconductivity [...]