Related papers: Electrostatics and domains in ferroelectric superl…
We have analyzed the morphology of ferroelectric domains in very thin films of multiferroic BiFeO3. Unlike the more common stripe domains observed in thicker films BiFeO3 or in other ferroics, the domains tend not to be straight, but…
Ferroelectric thin films under epitaxial strain exhibit a variety of vortex-like topological polarization textures. To analyze them, we build on the Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire framework and extend the previously introduced soft-domain…
Optical excitation perturbs the balance of phenomena selecting the tilt orientation of domain walls within ferroelectric thin films. The high carrier density induced in a low-strain BaTiO3 thin film by an above-bandgap ultrafast optical…
Two-dimensional (2D) electronic materials are of significant technological interest due to their exceptional properties and broad applicability in engineering. The transition from nanoscale physics, that dictates their stable…
We study how the ferroelastic domain structure sets in in an epitaxial film of a material with second order proper ferroelastic transition. The domain structures considered are similar to either $a_{1}/a_{2}/a_{1}/a_{2}$ or $c/a/c/a$…
The formation of a two-dimensional electron gas at oxide interfaces as a consequence of polar discontinuities has generated an enormous amount of activity due to the variety of interesting effects it gives rise to. Here we study under what…
We describe ferroelectric thin films with circular electrodes and develop a thermodynamic theory that explains previously mysterious experiments. It is found to be especially useful for restricted geometries such as microstructures for…
Using first-principles density functional calculations, we study the interplay of ferroelectricity and polar discontinuities in a range of 1-1 oxide superlattices, built out of ferroelectric and paraelectric components. Studies have been…
Ferroelectric BaTiO3 films with large polarization have been integrated with Si(001) by pulsed laser deposition. High quality c-oriented epitaxial films are obtained in a substrate temperature range of about 300 deg C wide. The deposition…
Ferroelectric domains in PbTiO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ superlattices were studied using synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Macroscopic measurements revealed a change in the domain wall orientation from $\left\lbrace 100 \right\rbrace $ to $\left\lbrace…
A long standing problem of domain switching process - how domains nucleate - is examined in ultrathin ferroelectric films. We demonstrate that the large depolarization fields in ultrathin films could significantly lower the nucleation…
The evolution of tetragonality with thickness has been probed in epitaxial c-axis oriented PbTiO3 films with thicknesses ranging from 500 down to 24 Angstroms. High resolution x-ray pointed out a systematic decrease of the c-axis lattice…
Electric polarization and metallicity are long believed not to coexist until the emergence of exceptionally rare material examples including the bulk polar metals and more recently two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials such as…
Nanostructured ferroelectrics display exotic multidomain configurations resulting from the electrostatic and elastic boundary conditions they are subject to. While the ferroelectric domains appear frozen in experimental images, atomistic…
The direct magnetoelectric (ME) effect resulting from the polarization changes induced in a ferroelectric film by the application of a magnetic field to a ferromagnetic substrate is described using the nonlinear thermodynamic theory. It is…
A reduction of polarization in ultra-thin ferroelectric films appears to be fundamental to ferroelectricity at the nanoscale. For the model system PbTiO3 on SrTiO3, we report observation of the polarization vs. thickness relation. Distinct…
There is growing evidence that domain walls in ferroics can possess emergent properties that are absent in bulk materials. For example, 180 domain walls in the ferroelectric-antiferromagnetic BiFeO3 are particularly interesting because they…
Ferroelectric switching and nanoscale domain dynamics were investigated using atomic force microscopy on monocrystalline Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin films. Measurements of domain size versus writing time reveal a two-step domain growth mechanism,…
In the paper we consider size effects of phase transitions and polar properties of the thin antiferroelectric films. We modified phenomenological approach proposed by Kittel. The Euler-Lagrange equations were solved by direct variational…
Ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) couple the direction of their spontaneous electric polarization to the direction of tilt of their optic axis. Consequently, reversal of the electric polarization by an electric field gives rise to an…