Control of polarization reversal temperature behavior by surface screening in thin ferroelectric films
Not Available
Morozovska, Anna N. (ORCID:000000028505458X)↗
Engineering topics
Vorotiahin, Ivan S.
Publications and source records attributed to Vorotiahin, Ivan S..
Tuning the polar states of ferroelectric films via surface charges and flexoelectricity
In this work, using the self-consistent Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire approach we simulate and analyze the spontaneous formation of the domain structure in thin ferroelectric films covered with the surface screening charge represented by the Bardeen-type surface states. Hence we consider the competition between the screening and the domain formation as alternative ways to reduce the electrostatic energy and reveal unusual peculiarities of distributions of polarization, electric and elastic fields conditioned by the surface screening length and the flexocoupling strength. We have established that the critical thickness of the film and its transition temperature to a paraelectric phase strongly depend on the Bardeen screening length, while the flexocoupling affects the polarization rotation and closure domain structure. Furthermore the flexocoupling induces ribbon-like nano-scale domains in the film depth far from the top open surface, which might be related to the enigmatic polar nanoregions in relaxor ferroelectrics. Thus the joint action of the surface screening (originating from e.g. the adsorption of ambient ions or surface states) and flexocoupling may remarkably modify polar and electromechanical properties of thin ferroelectric films.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Flexocoupling impact on size effects of piezoresponse and conductance in mixed-type ferroelectric semiconductors under applied pressure
Here, we explore the role of flexoelectric effect in functional properties of nanoscale ferroelectric films with mixed electronic-ionic conductivity. Using a coupled Ginzburg-Landau model, we calculate spontaneous polarization, effective piezoresponse, elastic strain and compliance, carrier concentration, and piezoconductance as a function of thickness and applied pressure. In the absence of flexoelectric coupling, the studied physical quantities manifest well-explored size-induced phase transitions, including transition to paraelectric phase below critical thickness. Similarly, in the absence of external pressure flexoelectric coupling affects properties of these films only weakly. However, the combined effect of flexoelectric coupling and external pressure induces polarizations at the film surfaces, which cause the electric built-in field that destroys the thickness-induced phase transition to paraelectric phase and induces the electretlike state with irreversible spontaneous polarization below critical thickness. Interestingly, the built-in field leads to noticeable increase of the average strain and elastic compliance in this thickness range. We further illustrate that the changes of the electron concentration by several orders of magnitude under positive or negative pressures can lead to the occurrence of high- or low-conductivity states, i.e., the nonvolatile piezoresistive switching, in which the swing can be controlled by the film thickness and flexoelectric coupling. The obtained theoretical results can be of fundamental interest for ferroic systems, and can provide a theoretical model for explanation of a set of recent experimental results on resistive switching and transient polar states in these systems.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗