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He R, Xu H, Yang P, Chang K, Wang H, Zhong Z. Ferroelastic Twin-Wall-Mediated Ferroelectriclike Behavior and Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in SrTiO_{3}. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:176801. [PMID: 38728736 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.176801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
Ferroelastic twin walls in nonpolar materials can give rise to a spontaneous polarization due to symmetry breaking. Nevertheless, the bistable polarity of twin walls and its reversal have not yet been demonstrated. Here, we report that the polarity of SrTiO_{3} twin walls can be switched by an ultralow strain gradient. Using first-principles-based machine-learning potential, we demonstrate that the twin walls can be deterministically rotated and realigned in specific directions under the strain gradient, which breaks the inversion symmetry of a sequence of walls and leads to a macroscopic polarization. The system can maintain polarity even after the constraint is removed. As a result, the polarization of twin walls can exhibit a ferroelectriclike hysteresis loop upon cyclic bending, namely flexoferroelectricity. Finally, we propose a scheme to experimentally detect the polarity of the twin wall by measuring the bulk photovoltaic responses. Our findings suggest a twin-wall-mediated flexoferroelectricity in SrTiO_{3}, which could be potentially exploited as functional elements in nanoelectronic devices design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ri He
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials Devices & Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Application Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Haowei Xu
- Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Peijun Yang
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials Devices & Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Application Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Kai Chang
- Center for Quantum Matter, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- School of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Hua Wang
- Center for Quantum Matter, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Hangzhou 311215, China
- School of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Zhicheng Zhong
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials Devices & Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Application Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
- Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 215123, China
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Stengel M. Macroscopic Polarization from Nonlinear Gradient Couplings. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:146801. [PMID: 38640360 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.146801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
We show that a lattice mode of arbitrary symmetry induces a well-defined macroscopic polarization at first order in the momentum and second order in the amplitude. We identify a symmetric flexoelectric-like contribution, which is sensitive to both the electrical and mechanical boundary conditions, and an antisymmetric Dzialoshinskii-Moriya-like term, which is unaffected by either. We develop the first-principles methodology to compute the relevant coupling tensors in an arbitrary crystal, which we illustrate with the example of the antiferrodistortive order parameter in SrTiO_{3}.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimiliano Stengel
- Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain and ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
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Fechner M, Först M, Orenstein G, Krapivin V, Disa AS, Buzzi M, von Hoegen A, de la Pena G, Nguyen QL, Mankowsky R, Sander M, Lemke H, Deng Y, Trigo M, Cavalleri A. Quenched lattice fluctuations in optically driven SrTiO 3. NATURE MATERIALS 2024; 23:363-368. [PMID: 38302742 PMCID: PMC10917662 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01791-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Crystal lattice fluctuations, which are known to influence phase transitions of quantum materials in equilibrium, are also expected to determine the dynamics of light-induced phase changes. However, they have only rarely been explored in these dynamical settings. Here we study the time evolution of lattice fluctuations in the quantum paraelectric SrTiO3, in which mid-infrared drives have been shown to induce a metastable ferroelectric state. Crucial in these physics is the competition between polar instabilities and antiferrodistortive rotations, which in equilibrium frustrate the formation of long-range ferroelectricity. We make use of high-intensity mid-infrared optical pulses to resonantly drive the Ti-O-stretching mode at 17 THz, and we measure the resulting change in lattice fluctuations using time-resolved X-ray diffuse scattering at a free-electron laser. After a prompt increase, we observe a long-lived quench in R-point antiferrodistortive lattice fluctuations. Their enhancement and reduction are theoretically explained by considering the fourth-order nonlinear phononic interactions to the driven optical phonon and third-order coupling to lattice strain, respectively. These observations provide a number of testable hypotheses for the physics of light-induced ferroelectricity.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Fechner
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - M Först
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - G Orenstein
- Stanford Pulse Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - V Krapivin
- Stanford Pulse Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - A S Disa
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
- School of Applied & Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - M Buzzi
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
| | - A von Hoegen
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany
| | - G de la Pena
- Stanford Pulse Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Q L Nguyen
- Stanford Pulse Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
- Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - R Mankowsky
- Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - M Sander
- Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - H Lemke
- Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Y Deng
- Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - M Trigo
- Stanford Pulse Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - A Cavalleri
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany.
- Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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Zhao ZC, Goryachev M, Krupka J, Tobar ME. Precision Multi-Mode Dielectric Characterization of a Crystalline Perovskite Enables Determination of the Temperature-Dependent Phase Transitions. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ULTRASONICS, FERROELECTRICS, AND FREQUENCY CONTROL 2022; 69:423-429. [PMID: 34437061 DOI: 10.1109/tuffc.2021.3108118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Simple perovskite crystals undergo structural phase transitions on cooling to low temperatures, which significantly change the material properties of the crystal. In this work, we rigorously characterize the temperature evolution of permittivity of a perovskite crystal as it undergoes phase transitions. In particular, we have undertaken precision measurements of a single crystal of Strontium Titanate from 294.6 to 5.6 K, by measuring the frequency of multiple microwave transverse electric (TE) and magnetic resonant modes simultaneously. The multi-mode microwave measurement technique of resonant frequency used in this work allows high precision determination of any induced anisotropy of the permittivity as the crystal undergoes structural phase transitions. Compared with previous results, we unequivocally show that the permittivity has an isotropic value of 316.3±2.2 at room temperature, consistent with its well-known cubic structure, and determine the onset of dielectric anisotropy as the crystal is cooled to lower temperatures. We show that the crystal exhibits uniaxial anisotropy in the permittivity below 105 K when the structure becomes tetragonal, and exhibits biaxial anisotropy in the permittivity below 51 K when the structure becomes orthorhombic.
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Ferroelectric switching in ferroelastic materials with rough surfaces. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15834. [PMID: 31676819 PMCID: PMC6825142 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52240-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Electric switching of non-polar bulk crystals is shown to occur when domain walls are polar in ferroelastic materials and when rough surfaces with steps on an atomic scale promote domain switching. All domains emerging from surface nuclei possess polar domain walls. The progression of domains is then driven by the interaction of the electric field with the polarity of domain boundaries. In contrast, smooth surfaces with higher activation barriers prohibit effective domain nucleation. We demonstrate the existence of an electrically driven ferroelectric hysteresis loop in a non-ferroelectric, ferroelastic bulk material.
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Pesquera D, Carpenter MA, Salje EKH. Glasslike Dynamics of Polar Domain Walls in Cryogenic SrTiO_{3}. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2018; 121:235701. [PMID: 30576178 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.121.235701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Polar and highly mobile domain walls in SrTiO_{3} move under electric and elastic fields. Two vastly different timescales dominate their dynamical behavior. The previously observed fast changes lead to anomalies near 40 K where the elastic moduli soften and the polarity of the walls becomes strong. Keeping the sample under isothermal conditions leads to a new and unexpected phenomenon: The softening vanishes over timescales of days while the piezoelectricity of the sample remains unchanged. The hardening follows glass dynamics below an onset at T^{*}≈40 K. The timescale of the hardening is strongly temperature dependent and can be followed experimentally down to 34 K when the relaxation is not completed within two days. The relaxation time of a stretched exponential decay increases exponentially with the decreasing temperature. This relaxation process follows similar dynamics after zero-field cooling and after applying or removing an electric field. The sluggish behavior is attributed to collective interactions of domain patterns following overdamped glass dynamics rather than ballistic dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Pesquera
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom
| | - Michael A Carpenter
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom
| | - Ekhard K H Salje
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom
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