Abstract
Hybrid improper ferroelectricity, where an electrical polarization can be induced via a trilinear coupling to two nonpolar structural distortions of different symmetries, recently was demonstrated experimentally in the Ruddlesden-Popper compound . In this paper we use group theoretic methods and first-principles calculations to identify possible ferroelectric switching pathways in . We identify low-energy paths that reverse the polarization direction by switching via an orthorhombic twin domain or via an antipolar structure. We also introduce a chemically intuitive set of local order parameters to give insight into how these paths are relevant to ferroelectric switching nucleated at domain walls. Our findings suggest that switching may proceed via more than one mechanism in this material.
1 More- Received 20 June 2016
- Revised 1 August 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.104105
©2016 American Physical Society