Related papers: Antisite defects stabilized by antiphase boundarie…
The switching characteristics of ferroelectrics and multiferroics are influenced by the interaction of topological defects with domain-walls. We report on the pinning of polarization due to antiphase boundaries in thin films of the…
Single-phase multiferroic materials that allow the coexistence of ferroelectric and magnetic ordering above room temperature are highly desirable, motivating an ongoing search for mechanisms for unconventional ferroelectricity in magnetic…
Though the electrical responses of the various polymorphs found in ferroelectric polycrystalline thin film HfO$_2$ are now well characterized, little is currently understood of this novel material's grain sub-structure. In particular, the…
The balance between interfacial chemistry, electrostatics, and epitaxial strain plays a crucial role in stabilizing polarization in ferroelectric thin films. Here, we bring these contributions into competition in BiFeO$_3$ (BFO) thin films…
Multiferroic BiFeO$_3$ (BFO) possesses a rich phase diagram that allows strain tuning of its properties in thin-film form. In particular, at large compressive strain, a supertetragonal (T) phase with giant polarization is stabilized over…
Magnetoelectric multiferroics, materials with intrinsically coupled electric polarization and magnetic order, promise ultralow-power switching, nonvolatile memory, and energy-efficient signal transduction. Yet practical deployment demands…
Switchable order parameters in ferroic materials are essential for functional electronic devices, yet disruptions of the ordering can take the form of planar boundaries or defects that exhibit distinct properties. Characterizing the…
In antiferromagnetically coupled multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy unusual multidomain textures can be stabilized due to a close competition between long-range demagnetization fields and short-range interlayer exchange coupling. In…
A thermodynamic theory is developed for dense laminar domain structures in epitaxial ferrolectric films. It is found that, at some critical misfit strain between the film and substrate, the 90 degrees c/a/c/a domain structure becomes…
Single phase (001)-oriented BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition can only be obtained in a narrow window of deposition pressure and temperature and have a low magnetic moment. Out of the stability window Fe- or Bi-rich…
The magnetic microstructure and domain wall distribution of antiferromagnetic $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ epitaxial layers is determined by statistical image analyses. Using dichroic spectro-microscopy images, we demonstrate that the domain…
Materials with coexisting and coupled ferroelectric and magnetic orders are rare. Here we show, using density functional theory calculations, that inducing Fe$_\mathrm{La}$ antisites into non-ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic LaFeO$_3$…
Anti-phase boundaries (APBs) are structural defects which have been shown to be responsible for the anomalous magnetic behaviour observed in different nanostructures. Understanding their properties is crucial in order to use them to tune…
In spite of being highly relevant for the development of a new generation of information storage devices, not many single-phase materials displaying magnetic and ferroelectric orders above room temperature are known. Moreover, these…
Multiferroic oxides, such as BiFeO3, have garnered significant attention due to their coupled ferroelectric, magnetic, and elastic properties, offering exciting opportunities for multifunctional device applications. Controlling phase…
Recent studies have reported the existence of an epitaxially-stabilized tetragonal-like ('T-like') monoclinic phase in BiFeO3 thin-films with high levels of compressive strain. While their structural and ferroelectric properties are…
Hexagonal rare-earth ferrite RFeO$_3$ family represents a unique class of multiferroics exhibiting weak ferromagnetism, and a strong coupling between magnetism and structural trimerization is predicted. However, the hexagonal structure for…
Ferroelectric switching in BiFeO$_3$ multiferroic thin films with intrinsic ``stripe-like'' and ``bubble-like'' polydomain configurations was studied by piezoresponse force microscopy. Using the local electric field applied by a scanning…
Bismuth ferrite is one of the most widely studied multiferroic materials because of its large ferroelectric polarisation coexisting with magnetic order at room temperature. Using density functional theory (DFT), we identify several…
We study the ferroelectric stability and surface structural properties of an oxygen-terminated hexagonal YMnO$_3$ ultra-thin film using density functional theory. Under an open circuit boundary condition, the ferroelectric state with the…