Domain topology and domain switching kinetics in a hybrid improper ferroelectric

F. T. Huang; F. Xue; B. Gao; L. H. Wang; X. Luo; W. Cai; X. Z. Lu; J. M. Rondinelli; L. Q. Chen; S. W. Cheong

doi:10.1038/ncomms11602

Domain topology and domain switching kinetics in a hybrid improper ferroelectric

F. T. Huang, F. Xue, B. Gao, L. H. Wang, X. Luo, W. Cai, X. Z. Lu, J. M. Rondinelli, L. Q. Chen, S. W. Cheong^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Charged polar interfaces such as charged ferroelectric walls or heterostructured interfaces of ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O and LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃, across which the normal component of electric polarization changes suddenly, can host large two-dimensional conduction. Charged ferroelectric walls, which are energetically unfavourable in general, were found to be mysteriously abundant in hybrid improper ferroelectric (Ca,Sr) ₃ Ti₂O₇ crystals. From the exploration of antiphase boundaries in bilayer-perovskites, here we discover that each of four polarization-direction states is degenerate with two antiphase domains, and these eight structural variants form a Z₄ × Z₂ domain structure with Z 3 vortices and five distinct types of domain walls, whose topology is directly relevant to the presence of abundant charged walls. We also discover a zipper-like nature of antiphase boundaries, which are the reversible creation/annihilation centres of pairs of two types of ferroelectric walls (and also Z₃-vortex pairs) in 90° and 180° polarization switching. Our results demonstrate the unexpectedly rich nature of hybrid improper ferroelectricity.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	11602
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11602
State	Published - May 24 2016

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Physics and Astronomy(all)
Chemistry(all)
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)

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@article{5783b353f599435cb38397c3fe521268,

title = "Domain topology and domain switching kinetics in a hybrid improper ferroelectric",

abstract = "Charged polar interfaces such as charged ferroelectric walls or heterostructured interfaces of ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O and LaAlO3/SrTiO3, across which the normal component of electric polarization changes suddenly, can host large two-dimensional conduction. Charged ferroelectric walls, which are energetically unfavourable in general, were found to be mysteriously abundant in hybrid improper ferroelectric (Ca,Sr) 3 Ti2O7 crystals. From the exploration of antiphase boundaries in bilayer-perovskites, here we discover that each of four polarization-direction states is degenerate with two antiphase domains, and these eight structural variants form a Z4 × Z2 domain structure with Z 3 vortices and five distinct types of domain walls, whose topology is directly relevant to the presence of abundant charged walls. We also discover a zipper-like nature of antiphase boundaries, which are the reversible creation/annihilation centres of pairs of two types of ferroelectric walls (and also Z3-vortex pairs) in 90° and 180° polarization switching. Our results demonstrate the unexpectedly rich nature of hybrid improper ferroelectricity.",

author = "Huang, {F. T.} and F. Xue and B. Gao and Wang, {L. H.} and X. Luo and W. Cai and Lu, {X. Z.} and Rondinelli, {J. M.} and Chen, {L. Q.} and Cheong, {S. W.}",

note = "Funding Information: were supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Pennsylvania State University MRSEC under award number DMR-1420620. DFT calculations were performed on the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), which is supported by NSF (ACI-1053575).",

year = "2016",

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day = "24",

doi = "10.1038/ncomms11602",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "7",

journal = "Nature communications",

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T1 - Domain topology and domain switching kinetics in a hybrid improper ferroelectric

AU - Huang, F. T.

AU - Xue, F.

AU - Gao, B.

AU - Wang, L. H.

AU - Luo, X.

AU - Cai, W.

AU - Lu, X. Z.

AU - Rondinelli, J. M.

AU - Chen, L. Q.

AU - Cheong, S. W.

N1 - Funding Information: were supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Pennsylvania State University MRSEC under award number DMR-1420620. DFT calculations were performed on the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), which is supported by NSF (ACI-1053575).

PY - 2016/5/24

Y1 - 2016/5/24

N2 - Charged polar interfaces such as charged ferroelectric walls or heterostructured interfaces of ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O and LaAlO3/SrTiO3, across which the normal component of electric polarization changes suddenly, can host large two-dimensional conduction. Charged ferroelectric walls, which are energetically unfavourable in general, were found to be mysteriously abundant in hybrid improper ferroelectric (Ca,Sr) 3 Ti2O7 crystals. From the exploration of antiphase boundaries in bilayer-perovskites, here we discover that each of four polarization-direction states is degenerate with two antiphase domains, and these eight structural variants form a Z4 × Z2 domain structure with Z 3 vortices and five distinct types of domain walls, whose topology is directly relevant to the presence of abundant charged walls. We also discover a zipper-like nature of antiphase boundaries, which are the reversible creation/annihilation centres of pairs of two types of ferroelectric walls (and also Z3-vortex pairs) in 90° and 180° polarization switching. Our results demonstrate the unexpectedly rich nature of hybrid improper ferroelectricity.

AB - Charged polar interfaces such as charged ferroelectric walls or heterostructured interfaces of ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O and LaAlO3/SrTiO3, across which the normal component of electric polarization changes suddenly, can host large two-dimensional conduction. Charged ferroelectric walls, which are energetically unfavourable in general, were found to be mysteriously abundant in hybrid improper ferroelectric (Ca,Sr) 3 Ti2O7 crystals. From the exploration of antiphase boundaries in bilayer-perovskites, here we discover that each of four polarization-direction states is degenerate with two antiphase domains, and these eight structural variants form a Z4 × Z2 domain structure with Z 3 vortices and five distinct types of domain walls, whose topology is directly relevant to the presence of abundant charged walls. We also discover a zipper-like nature of antiphase boundaries, which are the reversible creation/annihilation centres of pairs of two types of ferroelectric walls (and also Z3-vortex pairs) in 90° and 180° polarization switching. Our results demonstrate the unexpectedly rich nature of hybrid improper ferroelectricity.

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Domain topology and domain switching kinetics in a hybrid improper ferroelectric

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