Ferroelectric domains in PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices were studied using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Macroscopic measurements revealed a change in the domain wall orientation from {100} to {110} crystallographic planes with increasing temperature. The temperature range of this reorientation depends on the ferroelectric layer thickness and domain period. Using a nanofocused beam, local changes in domain wall orientation within the buried ferroelectric layers were imaged, both in structurally uniform regions of the sample and near defect sites and argon ion etched patterns. Domain walls were found to exhibit preferential alignment with the straight edges of the etched patterns as well as with structural features associated with defect sites. The distribution of out-of-plane lattice parameters was mapped around one such feature, showing that it is accompanied by inhomogeneous strain and large strain gradients.
@article{arxiv.1801.01772,
title = {Domain Wall Orientations in Ferroelectric Superlattices Probed with Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction},
author = {Marios Hadjimichael and Edoardo Zatterin and Stéphanie Fernandez-Peña and Steven J. Leake and Pavlo Zubko},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1801.01772},
year = {2018}
}