Strain-assisted tunneling current through TbMnO3∕Nb-1 wt %-doped SrTiO3 p–n junctions

Simple oxide heterostructures have been fabricated by growing multiferroic TbMnO3 thin film on Nb-1 wt %-doped SrTiO3 substrate. In addition to the beneficial rectifying characteristics in a temperature range from 350 to 30 K, the intriguing observation is that at constant reverse bias the current increases with decreasing temperature below 275 K. By analyzing the band diagram, the anomalous increasing current with decreasing temperature was ascribed to the strain-assisted tunneling current through TbMnO3∕Nb-doped p–n junctions.