The effect of intermixing at the interface of short period PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices is studied using first-principles density functional theory. The results indicate that interfacial intermixing significantly enhances the polarization within the superlattice. This enhancement is directly related to the off-centering of Pb and Sr cations and can be explained through a discussion of interacting dipoles. This picture should be general for a wide range of multicomponent superlattices and may have important consequences for the design of ferroelectric devices.
@article{arxiv.0705.4684,
title = {Polarization Enhancement in Short Period Superlattices via Interfacial Intermixing},
author = {Valentino R. Cooper and Karen Johnston and Karin M. Rabe},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0705.4684},
year = {2012}
}