Giant optical enhancement of strain gradient in ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films and its physical origin

Yuelin Li; Carolina Adamo; Pice Chen; Paul G. Evans; Serge M. Nakhmanson; William Parker; Clare E. Rowland; Richard D. Schaller; Darrell G. Schlom; Donald A. Walko; Haidan Wen; Qingteng Zhang

doi:10.1038/srep16650

Giant optical enhancement of strain gradient in ferroelectric BiFeO₃ thin films and its physical origin

Yuelin Li^*, Carolina Adamo, Pice Chen, Paul G. Evans, Serge M. Nakhmanson, William Parker, Clare E. Rowland, Richard D. Schaller, Darrell G. Schlom, Donald A. Walko, Haidan Wen, Qingteng Zhang

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

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

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Through mapping of the spatiotemporal strain profile in ferroelectric BiFeO₃epitaxial thin films, we report an optically initiated dynamic enhancement of the strain gradient of 10⁵-10⁶ m^-1 that lasts up to a few ns depending on the film thickness. Correlating with transient optical absorption measurements, the enhancement of the strain gradient is attributed to a piezoelectric effect driven by a transient screening field mediated by excitons. These findings not only demonstrate a new possible way of controlling the flexoelectric effect, but also reveal the important role of exciton dynamics in photostriction and photovoltaic effects in ferroelectrics.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	16650
Journal	Scientific reports
Volume	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16650
State	Published - Nov 20 2015

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10.1038/srep16650

Cite this

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title = "Giant optical enhancement of strain gradient in ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films and its physical origin",

abstract = "Through mapping of the spatiotemporal strain profile in ferroelectric BiFeO3epitaxial thin films, we report an optically initiated dynamic enhancement of the strain gradient of 105-106 m-1 that lasts up to a few ns depending on the film thickness. Correlating with transient optical absorption measurements, the enhancement of the strain gradient is attributed to a piezoelectric effect driven by a transient screening field mediated by excitons. These findings not only demonstrate a new possible way of controlling the flexoelectric effect, but also reveal the important role of exciton dynamics in photostriction and photovoltaic effects in ferroelectrics.",

author = "Yuelin Li and Carolina Adamo and Pice Chen and Evans, {Paul G.} and Nakhmanson, {Serge M.} and William Parker and Rowland, {Clare E.} and Schaller, {Richard D.} and Schlom, {Darrell G.} and Walko, {Donald A.} and Haidan Wen and Qingteng Zhang",

note = "Funding Information: We thank K. Jin for useful discussion. Work at Argonne was supported by the U.S Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357, and by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Work at Cornell University was supported by the National Science Foundation (Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems) under grant number EEC-1160504. Work at the University of Wisconsin was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, through Grant No. DEFG02-10ER46147. Use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials, an Office of Science user facility, was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.",

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doi = "10.1038/srep16650",

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T1 - Giant optical enhancement of strain gradient in ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films and its physical origin

AU - Li, Yuelin

AU - Adamo, Carolina

AU - Chen, Pice

AU - Evans, Paul G.

AU - Nakhmanson, Serge M.

AU - Parker, William

AU - Rowland, Clare E.

AU - Schaller, Richard D.

AU - Schlom, Darrell G.

AU - Walko, Donald A.

AU - Wen, Haidan

AU - Zhang, Qingteng

N1 - Funding Information: We thank K. Jin for useful discussion. Work at Argonne was supported by the U.S Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357, and by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding through the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Work at Cornell University was supported by the National Science Foundation (Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems) under grant number EEC-1160504. Work at the University of Wisconsin was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, through Grant No. DEFG02-10ER46147. Use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials, an Office of Science user facility, was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

PY - 2015/11/20

Y1 - 2015/11/20

N2 - Through mapping of the spatiotemporal strain profile in ferroelectric BiFeO3epitaxial thin films, we report an optically initiated dynamic enhancement of the strain gradient of 105-106 m-1 that lasts up to a few ns depending on the film thickness. Correlating with transient optical absorption measurements, the enhancement of the strain gradient is attributed to a piezoelectric effect driven by a transient screening field mediated by excitons. These findings not only demonstrate a new possible way of controlling the flexoelectric effect, but also reveal the important role of exciton dynamics in photostriction and photovoltaic effects in ferroelectrics.

AB - Through mapping of the spatiotemporal strain profile in ferroelectric BiFeO3epitaxial thin films, we report an optically initiated dynamic enhancement of the strain gradient of 105-106 m-1 that lasts up to a few ns depending on the film thickness. Correlating with transient optical absorption measurements, the enhancement of the strain gradient is attributed to a piezoelectric effect driven by a transient screening field mediated by excitons. These findings not only demonstrate a new possible way of controlling the flexoelectric effect, but also reveal the important role of exciton dynamics in photostriction and photovoltaic effects in ferroelectrics.

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