The nanostructural evolution of the strain-induced structural phase transition in BiFeO3 is examined. Using high-resolution X-ray diffraction and scanning-probe microscopy-based studies we have uniquely identified and examined the numerous phases present at these phase boundaries and have discovered an intermediate monoclinic phase in addition to the previously observed rhombohedral- and tetragonal-like phases. Further analysis has determined that the so-called mixed-phase regions of these films are not mixtures of rhombohedral- and tetragonal-like phases, but intimate mixtures of highly-distorted monoclinic phases with no evidence for the presence of the rhombohedral-like parent phase. Finally, we propose a mechanism for the enhanced electromechanical response in these films including how these phases interact at the nanoscale to produce large surface strains.
@article{arxiv.1105.4001,
title = {Nanoscale structure and mechanism for enhanced electromechanical response of highly-strained BiFeO3 thin films},
author = {A. R. Damodaran and C. -W. Liang and Q. He and C. -Y. Peng and L. Chang and Y. -H. Chu and L. W. Martin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1105.4001},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
17 page; 5 figures; Accepted to Advanced Materials, March 17, 2011