Topochemical Reduction of BaZrO₃ Thin Films

Doping-induced electronic and ionic transport in perovskites have been of interest for numerous electronic and energy applications. Specifically, BaZrO₃ has been studied widely as a proton conducting material. Electronic conduction in BaZrO₃ is hard to achieve due to the low electron affinity of this material, though low electron affinity conductors find notable applications. Recent advances in the use of strong solid state reducing agents to induce topochemical reduction offers the possibility to achieve electron conduction in BaZrO₃. Here, we report our study on CaH₂ based reduction of BaZrO₃ epitaxial thin films. We report the structural characterization and electrical properties of these films before and after reduction. Our studies show that hydride based reduction is a viable method to induce electron doping in BaZrO₃, and we discuss the stability and properties of the reduced films using time-dependent property measurements.