Related papers: Surface nucleation of the paraelectric phase in fe…
Theoretical {\em ab initio} and experimental methods were used to investigate the $x$Bi(Zn,Ti)O$_3$-(1-$x$)PbTiO$_3$ (BZT-PT) solid solution. We find that hybridization between Zn 4$p$ and O 2$p$ orbitals allows the formation of short,…
Nanoscale ferroelectrics that can be integrated into microelectronic fabrication processes are highly desirable for low-power computing and non-volatile memory devices. However, scalable novel ferroelectric materials, such as hafnium oxide…
Using classical density functional theory (DFT) in a modified mean-field approximation we investigate the fluid phase behavior of quasi-two dimensional dipolar fluids confined to a plane. The particles carry three-dimensional dipole moments…
The piezoelectric response is a measure of the sensitivity of a material's polarization to stress or its strain to an applied field. Using in-operando x-ray Bragg coherent diffraction imaging, we observe that topological vortices are the…
SrTiO3 is an incipient ferroelectric that is believed to exhibit a prototype displacive, soft mode ferroelectric transition when subjected to mechanical stress or alloying. We use high-angle annular dark-field imaging in scanning…
The paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition is believed to proceed through a critical point, at which power laws and scaling invariance, associated with the existence of one diverging characteristic length scale -- the so called…
The wealth of complex polar topologies recently found in nanoscale ferroelectrics result from a delicate balance between the materials intrinsic tendency to develop a homogeneous polarization and the electric and mechanic boundary…
Recent observations of unusual ferroelectricity in thin films of HfO_2 and related materials have attracted broad interest to the materials and led to the emergence of a number of competing models for observed behaviors. Here we develop the…
Understanding the polarization switching mechanisms at play in ferroelectric materials is crucial for their exploitation in electronic devices. The conventional centrosymmetric reference structure-based mechanism which accounts for…
Using first-principles calculations, we estimated the impact of large applied electric E fields on the structural, dielectric, and ferroelectric properties of typical ferroelectrics. At large fields, the structural parameters change…
For $\rm Sn_2P_2S_6$ ferroelectrics by first-principles calculations an analysis of the $\rm P_2S_6$ cluster electronic structure and their comparison with crystal valence band in paraelectric and ferroelectric phases has been done and the…
Single-crystalline ferroelectric (FE) perovskites show a large electrocaloric effect at electric field-induced phase transitions, promising for solid-state cooling technologies. However, paraelectric-FE transition temperatures are often too…
Fluctuating orders in solids are generally considered high-temperature precursors of broken symmetry phases. However, in some cases these fluctuations persist to zero temperature and prevent the emergence of long-range order, as for example…
The recent discovery of ferroelectric behavior in few-layer materials, accompanied by the observation of antipolar domains in hexagonal boron nitride and transition metal dichalcogenide moir\'e bilayers, is paving the way for revolutionary…
The discrete and charge-separated nature of matter - electrons and nuclei - results in local electrostatic fields that are ubiquitous in nanoscale structures and are determined by their shape, material, and environment. Such fields are…
The non-Abelian ferromagnet recently introduced by the authors, consisting of atoms in the fundamental representation of $SU(N)$, is studied in the limit where $N$ becomes large and scales as the square root of the number of atoms $n$. This…
First-principles calculations were performed to investigate the ferroelectric properties of barium titanate and bismuth ferrite, as well as phonon dispersion of BaTiO3, using density functional theory and density functional perturbation…
We report from first-principles-based atomistic simulations that ferroelectricity can be sustained in PbTiO3 nanoparticles of only a few lattice constants in size as a result of a toroidal ordering. We found that size-induced topological…
Coherent manipulation of lattice vibrations using ultrafast light pulses enables access to nonequilibrium 'hidden' phases with designed functionalities in quantum materials. However, expanding the understanding of nonlinear light-phonon…
The emergence of complex and fascinating states of quantum matter in the neighborhood of zero temperature phase transitions suggests that such quantum phenomena should be studied in a variety of settings. Advanced technologies of the future…