STAFF

Hiroki MATSUO

Dr. Hiroki MATSUO

Research Fields
Ferroelectrics, Lattice defects, Domain engineering,  Pulsed-laser deposition

Research interest

Ferroelectric materials have spontaneous electric polarization arising from a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure that can reversed by application of external electric field. Because of their characteristic polar structure, ferroelectric materials exhibit various functions such as piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity, electro-optic effect and anomalous photovoltaic effect, etc. Current research interest is the exploration of novel functions of the ferroelectric materials based on the following materials design strategies.

1.Ferroelectric artificial superlattice

A superlattice thin film has a periodic structure composed of thin layers of two or more materials. Because of an interfacial effect and a strong interaction between the layers, the superlattice sometimes exhibits unexpected property that is not predictable from the bulk properties of the constituting materials. The study aims to develop a ferroelectric thin-film capacitor that exhibits quite high energy density by exploiting the characteristic feature of the superlattice structure. For the fabrication of the ferroelectric superlattice, pulsed-laser deposition method with a reflection high energy electron diffraction system is used.

 

2.Ferroelectric photovoltaic effect

Ferroelectric materials exhibit characteristic photovoltaic responses owing to their polar crystal structure. While photovoltage generated by the conventional p-n junction of semiconductors is limited by bandgap energy of the materials, ferroelectric materials exhibit a high photovoltage exceeding the bandgap energy of them. We aim to enhance the photovoltaic response of the ferroelectric materials especially under visible light irradiation by chemical doping and by controlling ferroelectric domain structures.

 

3.Interaction between ferroelectric polarization and lattice defects

Charged lattice defects in the ferroelectric crystals strongly interact with the ferroelectric polarization through electrostatic and mechanical effects. The interaction enables control of the ferroelectric property by designing species, concentration, and distribution of the defects in the crystals. The goal of this study is to establish an effective approach to obtain desired ferroelectric properties by defect engineering.

Research Activities

Presentations
  • Yuji Noguchi and Hiroki Matsuo
    “Design of ferroelectric materials for energy storage applications utilizing interaction between defects and polarization”
    Annual Meeting 2023 of the Ceramic Society of Japan, Mar. 2023, Yokohama.

  • (Invited) Hiroki Matsuo
    The 77th Ceramic Society of Japan Awards for Advancements in Ceramic Science and Technology
    “Development of Photovoltaic Functions in Perovskite-type Ferroelectric Materials”
    Annual Meeting 2023 of the Ceramic Society of Japan, Mar. 2023, Yokohama.

  • Tomoki Sato, Hiroki Matsuo, and Yuji Noguchi
    “Photovoltaic effect of Cu-doped LiNbO3 single crystals under visible light”
    42nd Meeting on Electronic Materials, Nov. 2022, Yokohama.

  • Shun Fukushima, Hiroki Matsuo, and Yuji Noguchi
    “Defect engineering for ferroelectric BaTiO3 for energy storage ceramic capacitors”
    42nd Meeting on Electronic Materials, Nov. 2022, Yokohama.

  • Hiroki Matsuo and Yuji Noguchi
    “Domain-engineered BiFeO3-base ferroelectric with high-photocurrent anisotropy for visible-light polarization detection”
    13th Korea-Japan Conference on Ferroelectrics (KJC-FE13), Sep. 2022, Busan (Virtual)

  • Hiroki Matsuo and Yuji Noguchi
    “Ferroelectric Photovoltaic Effect in BiFeO3-based solid-solution thin films with nanodomain structures”
    35th Fall Meeting of the Ceramic Society of Japan, Sep. 2022, Tokushima (Virtual).

  • Seiyu Aso, Hiroki Matsuo, and Yuji Noguchi
    “Fabrication and characterization of defect-engineered NaNbO3-based antiferroelectric ceramics”
    35th Fall Meeting of the Ceramic Society of Japan, Sep. 2022, Tokushima (Virtual).

  • Hiroki Matsuo and Yuji Noguchi
    “Enhanced photovoltaic effects in ferroelectric thin films with nanodomains”
    15th International Symposium on Ferroic Domains & Micro- to Nano-scopic Structures (ISFD-15), Aug. 2022, Yamanashi.

Achievement

Grants
  • Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A), (The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), "Control of Defect Dipoles for Designing Hyper-Ordered Structure in Ferroelectric Perovskite Oxides (ペロブスカイト型強誘電体における欠陥双極子の制御と超秩序構造設計)", April 2023-March 2025

  • Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), "強誘電体超格子薄膜を用いた次世代蓄電デバイスの創製", April 2022-March 2024

  • The Asahi Glass Foundation Research Encouragement Grants FY2022, 次世代蓄電デバイスに向けた新規欠陥双極子誘起強誘電体の創製, April 2022-March, 2023

Awards
  • The 77th CerSJ Awards for advancements in ceramic science and technology (2022), 「ペロブスカイト型強誘電体における光電変換機能の開拓」”Development of Photovoltaic Functions in Perovskite-type Ferroelectric Materials”
    The Ceramic Society of Japan (CerSJ)
    *Approved on November 29, 2022(→ NEWS), and received on June 7, 2023(→ NEWS)

  • Excellent Presentation Award, "Domain-engineered BiFeO3-based ferroelectrics with high-photocurrent anisotropy for visible-light polarization detection"
    The 13th Korea-Japan Conference on Ferroelectrics (KJC-FE 13), Sep. 25-28, 2022
    NEWS

  • The 18th JACG Best Presentation Awards, “Gap-State Engineering for Ferroelectric Photovoltaic Effect in BiFeO3 Epitaxial Thin Film”
    Japanese Association for Crystal Growth (JACG). Dec. 13 2021
    NEWS

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