Abstract
Ferroelectric domain walls in single-crystal complex oxide thin films are found to be orders of magnitude slower when the interfacial bonds with the heteroepitaxial substrate are broken to create a freestanding film. This drastic change in domain wall kinetics does not originate from the alteration of epitaxial strain; rather, it is correlated with the structural ripples at mesoscopic length scale and associated flexoelectric effects induced in the freestanding films. In contrast, the effects of the bond-breaking on the local static ferroelectric properties of both top and bottom layers of the freestanding films, such as domain wall width and spontaneous polarization, are modest and governed by the change in epitaxy-induced compressive strain.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1907036 |
| Journal | Advanced Materials |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2020 |
Funding
Scanning probe microscopy, electronic transport, and sample fabrication carried out at Argonne National Laboratory were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. Use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract No. DE-AC02- 06CH11357. Materials growth carried out at the University of California Berkeley was supported by Office of Naval Research Contract No: N00014-14-1-0654. J.K. and S.H. acknowledge support from Brain Korea 21 Plus and KAIST. The authors acknowledge Prof. Ramamoorthy Ramesh and Prof. Paul Evans for helpful discussions.
Keywords
- complex oxide
- domain walls
- ferroelectric
- freestanding
- single crystal
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
- General Materials Science