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Stabilization of Highly Polar BiFeO3-like Structure: A New Interface Design Route for Enhanced Ferroelectricity in Artificial Perovskite Superlattices

Hongwei Wang, Jianguo Wen, Dean J. Miller, Qibin Zhou, Mohan Chen, Ho Nyung Lee, Karin M. Rabe, and Xifan Wu
Phys. Rev. X 6, 011027 – Published 14 March 2016
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Abstract

In ABO3 perovskites, oxygen octahedron rotations are common structural distortions that can promote large ferroelectricity in BiFeO3 with an R3c structure [1] but suppress ferroelectricity in CaTiO3 with a Pbnm symmetry [2]. For many CaTiO3-like perovskites, the BiFeO3 structure is a metastable phase. Here, we report the stabilization of the highly polar BiFeO3-like phase of CaTiO3 in a BaTiO3/CaTiO3 superlattice grown on a SrTiO3 substrate. The stabilization is realized by a reconstruction of oxygen octahedron rotations at the interface from the pattern of nonpolar bulk CaTiO3 to a different pattern that is characteristic of a BiFeO3 phase. The reconstruction is interpreted through a combination of amplitude-contrast sub-0.1-nm high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and first-principles theories of the structure, energetics, and polarization of the superlattice and its constituents. We further predict a number of new artificial ferroelectric materials demonstrating that nonpolar perovskites can be turned into ferroelectrics via this interface mechanism. Therefore, a large number of perovskites with the CaTiO3 structure type, which include many magnetic representatives, are now good candidates as novel highly polar multiferroic materials [3].

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  • Received 13 July 2015
  • Corrected 25 March 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.6.011027

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Corrections

25 March 2016

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When One Plus One is More than Two

Published 14 March 2016

Simulations show that the interface between two perovskite oxides can be a much stronger ferroelectric than either oxide on its own.

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Authors & Affiliations

Hongwei Wang1, Jianguo Wen2,*, Dean J. Miller2, Qibin Zhou3, Mohan Chen4, Ho Nyung Lee5, Karin M. Rabe3, and Xifan Wu1,*

  • 1Department of Physics, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
  • 2Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8019, USA
  • 4Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
  • 5Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA

  • *Corresponding author.

Popular Summary

Ferroelectricity, a property of materials with a spontaneous electric polarization that can be switched in an applied electric field, is a desired functionality in oxide materials. In the ground state, each bulk perovskite adopts a particular pattern of oxygen octahedron rotation in accordance with its chemical elements. In BiFeO3-type perovskites, the pattern of oxygen octahedron rotation encourages the development of large ferroelectricity. However, in CaTiO3-type perovskites, this same pattern suppresses ferroelectricity. Unfortunately, CaTiO3-type perovskites are much more common in nature than BiFeO3-type perovskites. Using modern thin-film technology, the layer-by-layer growth of perovskite superlattices provides an opportunity not only to modify but also to fundamentally change the pattern of oxygen octahedron rotation to overcome this limitation set by nature. Here, we show that oxygen octahedron rotation of BiFeO3-type perovskites can be stabilized in CaTiO3 at the interface in BaTiO3/CaTiO3 superlattices.

We use a superlattice grown on a SrTiO3 substrate, and we conduct our experiments at room temperature (300 K). Our analysis relies on a combination of first-principles-based theories and amplitude-contrast, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy with a resolution better than 0.1 nm. By considering the oxygen octahedron rotation to be a controllable parameter, our discovery establishes a novel interface approach to induce ferroelectricity in perovskites. Our first-principles calculations show that nonpolar perovskites can be stabilized to have a BiFeO3-type oxygen octahedron rotation pattern with a large ferroelectric polarization when the BiFeO3-type structure is favored.

We expect that our findings will pave the way for studies of room-temperature multiferroic materials important in the electronics industry.

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See Also

Publisher’s Note: Stabilization of Highly Polar BiFeO3-Like Structure: A New Interface Design Route for Enhanced Ferroelectricity in Artificial Perovskite Superlattices [Phys. Rev. X 6, 011027 (2016)]

Hongwei Wang, Jianguo Wen, Dean J. Miller, Qibin Zhou, Mohan Chen, Ho Nyung Lee, Karin M. Rabe, and Xifan Wu
Phys. Rev. X 6, 029901 (2016)

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Vol. 6, Iss. 1 — January - March 2016

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