Related papers: Surface nucleation of the paraelectric phase in fe…
Very sensitive responses to external forces are found near phase transitions. However, phase transition dynamics and pre-equilibrium phenomena are difficult to detect and control. We have directly observed that the equilibrium domain…
A ferroelectric is a material with a polar structure whose polarity can be reversed by applying an electric field. In metals, the itinerant electrons tend to screen electrostatic forces between ions, helping to explain why polar metals are…
We have investigated the magnetic and dielectric properties of orthorhombic Eu$_{1-y}$Y$_y$MnO$_3$ ($0\leq y\leq 0.6$) single crystals without the presence of the 4$f$ magnetic moments of the rare-earth ions. In $y\geq 0.2$, the…
Surprisingly little is known about the microscopic processes that govern ferroelectric switching in orthorhombic ferroelectrics. To study microscopic switching processes we combine ab initio-based molecular dynamics simulations and data…
We consider ferroelectric phase transitions in both short-circuited and biased ferroelectric-semiconductor films with a space (depletion) charge which leads to some unusual behavior. It is shown that in the presence of the charge the…
Type-II multiferroics, where spin interactions induce a ferroelectric polarization, are interesting for new device functionalities due to large magnetoelectric coupling. We report on a new type of multiferroicity in the quadruple-perovskite…
Noncollinear dipole textures greatly extend the scientific merits and application perspective of ferroic materials. In fact, noncollinear spin textures have been well recognized as one of the core issues of condensed matter, e.g.…
We report a detailed high-resolution powder neutron diffraction investigation of the structural behaviour of the multiferroic hexagonal polymorph of YMnO3 between room temperature and 1403 K. The study was aimed at resolving previous…
We investigate the role of electric toroidal dipoles in the prototypical ferroaxial materials NiTiO$_3$ and K$_2$Zr(PO$_4$)$_2$, which undergo ferroaxial structural phase transitions of order-disorder and displacive type, respectively.…
Recent interests towards novel functionalities arising at domain walls of ferroic materials naturally call for a microscopic understanding. To this end, first-principles calculations have been performed in order to provide solid evidence of…
We apply a first-principles-based atomistic model to investigate the BaTi(1-x)Zr(x)O3 phase diagram, focusing on both macroscopic and local structural changes. Our approach, which combines molecular dynamics with machine learning…
Electric-field controlled exchange bias in a heterostructure composed of the ferromagnetic manganite La0.7Sr0.3MO3 and the ferroelectric antiferromagnetic BiFeO3 has recently been demonstrated experimentally. By means of a microscopic model…
Phase transformation in finite-size ferroelectrics is of fundamental relevance for understanding collective behaviors and balance of competing interactions in low-dimensional systems. We report a first-principles effective Hamiltonian study…
A single crystal of lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT), composition Pb(Zr0.80Ti0.20)O3, was studied by polarized-Raman scattering as a function of temperature. Raman spectra reveal that the local structure deviates from the average structure in…
We present an inexpensive first-principles approach for describing quantum paraelectricity that combines density functional theory (DFT) treatment of the electronic subsystem with quantum mechanical treatment of the ions through solution of…
Two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectric semiconductors present opportunities for integrating ferroelectrics into high-density ultrathin nanoelectronics. Among the few synthesized 2D ferroelectrics, $\alpha$-In$_2$Se$_3$, known for its…
Mechanical displacement in commonly used piezoelectric materials is typically restricted to linear or biaxial in nature and to a few percent of the material dimensions. Here, we show that free-standing BaTiO$_3$ membranes exhibit…
We develop a series of approximations to calculate free energy of a polar liquid. We show that long range nature of dipole interactions between the molecules leads to para-electric state instability at low temperatures and to a second-order…
A shell model for ferroelectric perovskites fitted to results of first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations is strongly affected by approximations made in the exchange-correlation functional within DFT, and in general not…
In conventional ferroelectrics the electric dipoles are generated by off-center displacements of ions. In recent years, a new type of so-called electronic ferroelectrics has attracted great attention, where the polarization is driven by…