Related papers: On the microscopic mechanisms behind hyperferroele…
Density functional calculations are performed to investigate the experimentally-reported field-induced phase transition in thin-film ZrO2 (J. Muller et al., Nano. Lett. 12, 4318). We find a small energy difference of ~ 1 meV/f.u. between…
Relaxor ferroelectrics, which can exhibit exceptional electromechanical coupling are some of the most important functional materials with applications ranging from ultrasound imaging to actuators and sensors in microelectromechanical…
Ferroelectricity is observed in orthorhombic $HoMnO_3$ and $YMnO_3$ at the magnetic lock-in transitions into an E-type structure or an incommensurate phase with a temperature independent wave vector, respectively. In $HoMnO_3$ the…
Crystallography and dielectric properties in Dion-Jacobson layered perovskites, CsNdNb$_2$O$_7$ and RbNdNb$_2$O$_7$, have been examined in dense polycrystalline samples, and polarization hysteresis loops that substantiate ferroelectricity…
The discovery of ferroelectric HfO2 in thin films and more recently in bulk is an important breakthrough because of its silicon-compatibility and unexpectedly persistent polarization at low dimensions, but the origin of its ferroelectricity…
The discovery of ferroelectric polarization in HfO2-based ultrathin films has spawned a lot of interest due to their potential applications in data storage. Recently, a new R3m rhombohedral phase was proposed to be responsible for the…
The magnetoelectric behavior of BiFeO$_3$ has been explored on the basis of accurate density functional calculations. The structural, electronic, magnetic, and ferroelectric properties of BiFeO$_3$ are predicted correctly without including…
We investigate the effect of polar Sr-O vacancy pairs on the electric polarization of SrMnO$_3$ (SMO) thin films using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This is motivated by indications that ferroelectricity in complex oxides…
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…
Metal-organic frameworks comprehend a wide class of hybrid organic-inorganic materials with general structure A$_m$BX$_n$, with $A$ and $X$ being organic molecules and B a metal cation. This often results in enhanced structural flexibility…
Hydrostatic pressure and oxygen vacancies usually have deleterious effects on ferroelectric materials because both tend to reduce their polarization. In this work we use first-principles calculations to study an important class of…
The free energy of antiferroelectric liquid crystal which takes into account polar order explicitly is presented. Steric, van der Waals, piezoelectric and flexoelectric interactions to the nearest layers and dipolar electrostatic…
We uncover a new pathway towards multiferroicity, showing how magnetism can drive ferroelectricity without relying on inversion symmetry breaking of the magnetic ordering. Our free-energy analysis demonstrates that any commensurate…
Ferroelectric order in polar liquids has been observed in numerical simulations and liquid-crystal experiments. In mean-field frameworks, this behavior is associated to sample-shape dependent, surface contribution to the free energy. This…
Within Landau theory, magnetism and polarity are homotopic, displaying a one-to-one correspondence between most physical characteristics. However, despite widely reported noncollinear magnetism, spontaneous noncollinear electric dipole…
The direction of ferroelectric polarization is prescribed by the symmetry of the crystal structure. Therefore, rotation of the polarization direction is largely limited, despite the opportunity it offers in understanding important…
The consideration of oxygen vacancies influence on the relaxors with perovskite structure was considered in the framework of Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire phenomenological theory. The theory applicability for relaxors is based on the existence…
SrTiO$_3$ is an incipient ferroelectric on the verge of a polar instability, which is avoided at low temperatures by quantum fluctuations. Within this unusual quantum paraelectric phase, superconductivity persists despite extremely dilute…
Antiferroelectrics exhibit unique double-hysteresis polarization loops, which have garnered significant attention due to their potential applications such as energy storage, electromechanical transduction, as well as synapse devices.…
Ferroelectricity observed in thin film $\mathrm{HfO_2}$, either doped with Si, Al, etc. or in the $\mathrm{Hf_{0.5}Zr_{0.5}O_2}$ form, has gained great technical significance. However, the soft mode theory faces a difficulty in explaining…