Atomic-scale mechanisms of ferroelastic domain-wall-mediated ferroelectric switching

Peng Gao, Jason Britson, Jacob R. Jokisaari, Christopher T. Nelson, Seung Hyub Baek, Yiran Wang, Chang Beom Eom, Long Qing Chen, Xiaoqing Pan

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167 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polarization switching in ferroelectric thin films occurs via nucleation and growth of 180domains through a highly inhomogeneous process in which the kinetics are largely controlled by defects, interfaces and pre-existing domain walls. Here we present the first real-time, atomic-scale observations and phase-field simulations of domain switching dominated by pre-existing, but immobile, ferroelastic domains in Pb(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8)O 3 thin films. Our observations reveal a novel hindering effect, which occurs via the formation of a transient layer with a thickness of several unit cells at an otherwise charged interface between a ferroelastic domain and a switched domain. This transient layer possesses a low-magnitude polarization, with a dipole glass structure, resembling the dead layer. The present study provides an atomic level explanation of the hindering of ferroelectric domain motion by ferroelastic domains. Hindering can be overcome either by applying a higher bias or by removing the as-grown ferroelastic domains in fabricated nanostructures.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2791
JournalNature Communications
Volume4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Awards DE-FG02-07ER46416 (P.G., C.T.N. and X.Q.P.) and DE-FG02-07ER46417 (J.B. and L.-Q.C.), and in part supported by instrumentations funded by the National Science Foundation through Grants DMR-0723032 (aberration-corrected TEM) and OCI-0821527 (cyberstar Linux cluster). The work at University of Wisconsin-Madison was supported by the Army Research Office (ARO) under Grant number W911NF-10-1-0362 (S.-H.B. and C.-B.E). J.R.J. was supported by the Air Force Office for Scientific Research (AFOSR) under Grant number FA9550-10-1-0524. Y.W. was supported by Penn State MRSEC under Grant number MRSEC DMR-0820404. We acknowledge the National Center for Electron Microscopy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, supported under DOE Grant DE-AC02-05CH11231, for the use of their shared user facilities.

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