Related papers: Liquid Crystal-Solid Interface Structure at the An…
A two dimensional crystalline layer is found at the surface of the liquid eutectic Au$_{82}$Si$_{18}$ alloy above its melting point $T_M=359 ^{\circ}$C. Underlying this crystalline layer we find a layered structure, 6-7 atomic layers thick.…
In an ideal 3D topological insulator (TI), the bulk is insulating and the surface conducting due to the existence of metallic states that are localized on the surface; these are the topological surface states. Quaternary Bi-based compounds…
We present a first-principles investigation of ferroelectricity in layered perovskite oxide La2Ti2O7 (LTO), one of the compounds with highest Curie temperature known (1770 K). Our calculations reveal that LTO's ferroelectric transition…
Antiferroelectrics have received blooming interests because of a wide range of potential applications in energy storage, solid-state cooling, thermal switch, transducer, actuation, and memory devices. Many of those applications are the most…
A topological insulator is characterized by spin-momentum locking on its boundary. The spin momentum locking on the surface of a three dimensional topological insulator leads to the existence of a non-trivial Berry's phase which leads to…
We analyze the electrostatic stability of insulating surfaces in the framework of the bulk modern theory of polarization. We show that heuristic arguments based on a fully ionic limit find formal justification at the microscopic level, even…
X-ray diffraction, dynamical mechanical analysis and infrared reflectivity studies revealed an antiferrodistortive phase transition in EuTiO3 ceramics. Near 300K the perovskite structure changes from cubic Pm-3m to tetragonal I4/mcm due to…
We investigate the chiral electronic modes at the interface between two regions of a threefold topological semimetal, which is illuminated by left and right handed elliptically polarized waves. The radiation effects on the band structure of…
Using molecular dynamics simulation, we study dipolar glass in crystals composed of slightly spheroidal, polar particles and spherical, apolar impurities between metal walls. We present physical pictures of ferroelectric glass, which have…
Novel phenomena appear when two different oxide materials are combined together to form an interface. For example, at the interface of LaAlO3/SrTiO3, two dimensional conductive states form to avoid the polar discontinuity and magnetic…
We present a simple theory for structural transitions in displacive ferroelectrics of the perovskite type. In our theory, the competition between the elastic energy cost for the displacement of the homopolar ion from the centrosymmetric…
In ferroelectricity, atomic-scale dipole moments interact collectively to produce strong electro-mechanical coupling and switchable macroscopic polarization. Hence, the functionality of ferroelectrics emerges at a solid-solid phase…
We solve exactly a Terrace-Ledge-Kink (TLK) model describing a crystal surface at a microscopic level. We show that there is a faceting transition driven either by temperature or by the chemical potential that controls the slope of the…
We apply a first-principles-based atomistic model to investigate the BaTi(1-x)Zr(x)O3 phase diagram, focusing on both macroscopic and local structural changes. Our approach, which combines molecular dynamics with machine learning…
The phase-field-crystal model is used to access the structure and thermodynamics of interfaces between two coexisting liquid crystalline phases in two spatial dimensions. Depending on the model parameters there is a variety of possible…
Dielectric spectroscopy is used to check for the onset of polar order in the quasi one-dimensional quantum spin system Sul-Cu2Cl4 when passing from the spin-liquid state into the ordered spiral phase in an external magnetic field. We find…
It has been recently demonstrated that the magnetic state of FeRh can be controlled by electric fields in FeRh/BaTiO$_{\text{3}}$ heterostructures [R.O. Cherifi et al. Nature Mater. 13, 345 (2014)]. Voltage-controlled changes in the…
Room Temperature Ionic Liquids (RTILs) are molten salts which exhibit uniques physical and chemical properties, commonly harnessed for lubrication and energy applications. The pure ionic nature of RTIL leads to strong electrostatic…
We show by means of ab-initio calculations that the organic molecular crystal TTF-CA is multiferroic: it has an instability to develop spontaneously both ferroelectric and magnetic ordering. Ferroelectricity is driven by a Peierls…
The finite-size effect on the antiferromagnetic (AF) transition and electronic configuration of iron has been observed in LiFePO4. Determination of the scaling behavior of the AF transition temperature (TN) versus the particle-size…