Stabilization of Monodomain Polarization in Ultrathin PbTiO3 Films

D. D. Fong, A. M. Kolpak, J. A. Eastman, S. K. Streiffer, P. H. Fuoss, G. B. Stephenson, Carol Thompson, D. M. Kim, K. J. Choi, C. B. Eom, I. Grinberg, and A. M. Rappe
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 127601 – Published 28 March 2006

Abstract

Using in situ high-resolution synchrotron x-ray scattering, the Curie temperature TC has been determined for ultrathin c-axis epitaxial PbTiO3 films on conducting substrates (SrRuO3 on SrTiO3), with surfaces exposed to a controlled vapor environment. The suppression of TC was relatively small, even for the thinnest film (1.2 nm). We observe that 180° stripe domains do not form, indicating that the depolarizing field is compensated by free charge at both interfaces. This is confirmed by ab initio calculations that find polar ground states in the presence of ionic adsorbates.

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  • Received 22 September 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.127601

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

D. D. Fong1, A. M. Kolpak2, J. A. Eastman1, S. K. Streiffer1, P. H. Fuoss1, G. B. Stephenson1, Carol Thompson3, D. M. Kim4, K. J. Choi4, C. B. Eom4, I. Grinberg2, and A. M. Rappe2

  • 1Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 2The Makineni Theoretical Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA
  • 4Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 12 — 31 March 2006

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