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Atomic-scale study of electric dipoles near charged and uncharged domain walls in ferroelectric films

Atomic-scale study of electric dipoles near charged and uncharged domain walls in ferroelectric... Ferroelectrics are materials exhibiting spontaneous electric polarization due to dipoles formed by displacements of charged ions inside the crystal unit cell. Their exceptional properties are exploited in a variety of microelectronic applications. As ferroelectricity is strongly influenced by surfaces, interfaces and domain boundaries, there is great interest in exploring how the local atomic structure affects the electric properties. Here, using the negative spherical-aberration imaging technique in an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope, we investigate the cation–oxygen dipoles near 180∘ domain walls in epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films on the atomic scale. The width and dipole distortion across a transversal wall and a longitudinal wall are measured, and on this basis the local polarization is calculated. For the first time, a large difference in atomic details between charged and uncharged domain walls is reported. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nature Materials Springer Journals

Atomic-scale study of electric dipoles near charged and uncharged domain walls in ferroelectric films

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References (42)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by Nature Publishing Group
Subject
Materials Science; Materials Science, general; Optical and Electronic Materials; Biomaterials; Nanotechnology; Condensed Matter Physics
ISSN
1476-1122
eISSN
1476-4660
DOI
10.1038/nmat2080
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Ferroelectrics are materials exhibiting spontaneous electric polarization due to dipoles formed by displacements of charged ions inside the crystal unit cell. Their exceptional properties are exploited in a variety of microelectronic applications. As ferroelectricity is strongly influenced by surfaces, interfaces and domain boundaries, there is great interest in exploring how the local atomic structure affects the electric properties. Here, using the negative spherical-aberration imaging technique in an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope, we investigate the cation–oxygen dipoles near 180∘ domain walls in epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films on the atomic scale. The width and dipole distortion across a transversal wall and a longitudinal wall are measured, and on this basis the local polarization is calculated. For the first time, a large difference in atomic details between charged and uncharged domain walls is reported.

Journal

Nature MaterialsSpringer Journals

Published: Dec 9, 2007

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