Tilt transitions in compressively strained AgTa0.5Nb0.5O3 thin films

R. L. Johnson-Wilke, D. S. Tinberg, C. B. Yeager, Y. Han, I. M. Reaney, I. Levin, D. D. Fong, T. T. Fister, and S. Trolier-McKinstry
Phys. Rev. B 84, 134114 – Published 24 October 2011

Abstract

Phase transitions in coherently strained epitaxial AgTa0.5Nb0.5O3 films grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrates were characterized by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Coherently strained films were found to undergo the same phase transition sequence as bulk materials: cubic (C)↔tetragonal (T)↔orthorhombic (O)↔orthorhombic (M3). However, the compressive in-plane strain stabilized the tetragonal and orthorhombic phases, expanding these phase fields by ≈280 °C. The compressive strain state also favors c-axis domain texture. Consequently, unit cell quadrupling in the M3 phase and the in-phase tilt of the T phase both occur around the out-of-plane direction. In contrast, bulk materials and relaxed films are polydomain, with the complex tilt system occurring along all three of the orthogonal axes. Compressively strained films are in the M3 phase at room temperature rather than in the M2 phase as is observed in bulk. This suggests that strain not only modifies octahedral rotations but may also disrupt the ordering of local cation displacements. These results demonstrate unambiguously that strain engineering in systems with complex tilt sequences such as AgTa0.5Nb0.5O3 is feasible and open up the possibility of modifying properties by manipulation of the pertinent octahedral tilt transition temperature in a wide range of functional ceramics.

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  • Received 8 July 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.134114

©2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

R. L. Johnson-Wilke1,*, D. S. Tinberg1, C. B. Yeager1, Y. Han2, I. M. Reaney3, I. Levin4, D. D. Fong5, T. T. Fister6, and S. Trolier-McKinstry1

  • 1Materials Research Institute and Materials Science and Engineering Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  • 2Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
  • 3Department of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, United Kingdom
  • 4Ceramics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
  • 5Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 6Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA

  • *rlj12@psu.edu

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Issue

Vol. 84, Iss. 13 — 1 October 2011

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