Related papers: Hierarchical domain structures in buckled ferroele…
We present a spatial and wave-vector resolved study of the electronic structure of micron sized ferroelectric domains at the surface of a BaTiO3(001) single crystal. The n-type doping of the BaTiO3 is controlled by in-situ vacuum and oxygen…
Phase decomposition is a well-known process leading to the formation of two-phase mixtures. Here we show that a strain imposed on a ferroelastic crystal promotes the formation of mixed phases and domains, i.e., domain and phase de-strain…
Structural softness - often characterized by unstable phonon modes and large electromechanical responses - is a hallmark of ferroelectric perovskites like BaTiO3 or Pb(Ti,Zr)O3. Whether HfO2 ferroelectrics present any such structural…
When the atomic layers in a non-centrosymmetric van der Waals structure slide against each other, the interfacial charge transfer results in a reversal of the structures spontaneous polarization. This phenomenon is known as sliding…
Interface effects on the ferroelectric behavior of PbTiO$_3$ ultrathin films deposited on SrTiO$_3$ substrate are investigated using an interatomic potential approach with parameters fitted to first-principles calculations. We find that the…
A monolayer of ZrO$_{2}$ has recently been grown on the Si(001) surface and shown to have ferroelectric properties, which signifies the realization of the lowest possible thickness in ferroelectric oxides [M. Dogan et al., Nano Lett., 18…
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…
We report on the formation of topological defects emerging from the cycloidal antiferromagnetic order at the surface of bulk BiFeO$_3$ crystals. Combining reciprocal and real-space magnetic imaging techniques, we first observe, in a single…
Ferroelectric nematic phases are a new class of polar fluids in which spontaneous polarization is directly coupled to the orientational order, providing unique opportunities for creating self-organized materils with spatially modulated…
Ferroic materials are well known to exhibit heterogeneity in the form of domain walls. Understanding the properties of these boundaries is crucial for controlling functionality with external stimuli and for realizing their potential for…
The ferroelectric trends of rutile (TiO$_2$) in bulk and at the (110) surface are investigated by means of ab initio density functional theory. We discuss the underlying mechanism of the incipient ferroelectric behavior of rutile in terms…
Domain structures play a crucial role in the electric, mechanical and other properties of ferroelectric materials. In this study, we uncover the physical origins of the enigmatic zigzag domain structure in the prototypical multiferroic…
A first-principles-derived method is used to study the morphology and electric-field-induced evolution of stripe nanodomains in (001) BaTiO3 (BTO) ultrathin films, and to compare them with those in (001) Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) ultrathin films.…
Multiferroic BiFeO3 epitaxial films with thickness ranging from 40 nm to 960 nm were grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO3 (001) substrates with SrRuO3 bottom electrodes. X-ray characterization shows that the structure evolves from…
We report the emergence of a transverse dielectric response in PbTiO$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$ superlattices hosting polar vortex structures. Using second-principles simulations, we find that an electric field applied along one direction induces…
The electronic band structure of crystals is generally influenced by the periodic arrangement of their constituent atoms. Specifically, the emerging two-dimensional (2D) layered structures have shown different band structures with respect…
Ferroelectric materials are a class of dielectrics that exhibit spontaneous polarization which can be reversed under an external electric field. The emergence of ferroelectric order in incipient ferroelectrics is a topic of considerable…
Ferroelectric domain nucleation and growth in multiferroic BiFeO3 films is observed directly by applying a local electric field with a conductive tip inside a scanning transmission electron microscope. The nucleation and growth of a…
Proximity to phase transitions (PTs) is frequently responsible for the largest dielectric susceptibilities in ferroelectrics. The impracticality of using temperature as a control parameter to reach those large responses has motivated the…
The sensitivity of ferroelectric domain walls to external stimuli makes them functional entities in nanoelectronic devices. Specifically, optically driven domain reconfiguration with in-plane polarization is advantageous and thus highly…