Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Anantha P. Bhat, Ranjith Ramadurai
Summary: Strain-mediated coupling between the magnetic and electrically ordered phases is important in magnetoelectric nano-composites. This study explores a method to analyze and quantify interfacial strain using grazing angle scan in a ME composite optimized for a specific microstructure. The strain around the interface of CoFe2O4 - 0.93Na(0.5)Bi(0.5)TiO(3) - 0.07BaTiO(3) was observed to dominate over a spatial region of about 20-30 nm away from the interface. The strain experienced by the ferroelectric layer restricts polarization rotation and domain wall motion.
CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Vladimir V. Shvartsman, Dmitry D. Khalyavin, Nikolai M. Olekhnovich, Anatoli V. Pushkarev, Yuri V. Radyush, Andrei N. Salak
Summary: High-pressure synthesis of single-phase perovskite BiFe1-xScxO3 ceramics allows for study of their ferroelectric properties using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). Different compositions exhibit varying ferroelectric behavior after annealing, with the influence of mechanical stress also being a factor in phase transformation.
PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI A-APPLICATIONS AND MATERIALS SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mengkang Xu, Xinpeng Tian, Qian Deng, Qun Li, Shengping Shen
Summary: By introducing nanocracks and applying continuously varying mechanical loading, the evolution of flexoelectricity around the crack tips in SrTiO3, Ba0.67Sr0.33TiO3, and TiO2 samples has been successfully measured. This method provides a reliable way to identify the significance of the flexoelectric effect and may open a new avenue for the study of flexoelectricity involving multiple physics phenomena such as flexoelectronics and the flexo-photovoltaic effect.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kyle P. Kelley, Anna N. Morozovska, Eugene A. Eliseev, Vinit Sharma, Dundar E. Yilmaz, Adri C. T. van Duin, Panchapakesan Ganesh, Albina Borisevich, Stephen Jesse, Peter Maksymovych, Nina Balke, Sergei Kalinin, Rama K. Vasudevan
Summary: This study reports the first observation of enhanced electromechanical response in BaTiO3 thin films through dynamic local oxygen vacancy control. It demonstrates that piezoelectricity can persist past the bulk Curie temperature and that an internal electric field further enhances the intrinsic electrostriction. The findings highlight the pivotal role that dynamics of vacancies in complex oxides play in determining functional properties and suggest a new route towards achieving enhanced ferroic response in ferroelectrics and other ferroic materials with higher functional temperature windows.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xingchen Zhang, Hongying Chen, Guo Tian, Wenda Yang, Zhen Fan, Zhipeng Hou, Deyang Chen, Min Zeng, Minghui Qin, Jinwei Gao, Xingsen Gao, Jun -Ming Liu
Summary: We have successfully achieved controllable creation and erasure of polar bubble states in PbTiO3 (PTO) multilayers triggered by mechanical stress and light illumination. Applying AFM tip force induced the formation of nanoscale bubble domains from the initial monodomain state, while ultraviolet or infrared light illumination eliminated the created bubble domains. These results can be explained by the modulation of depolarization screening charges and bias fields, and provide a good example for the multi-field manipulation of polar topologies.
JOURNAL OF MATERIOMICS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
N. Creange, K. P. Kelley, C. Smith, D. Sando, O. Paull, N. Valanoor, S. Somnath, S. Jesse, S. Kalinin, R. K. Vasudevan
Summary: Multi-dimensional spectral-imaging is essential in various microscopies and chemical imaging techniques, where utilizing spatial and spectral neighborhood information can significantly improve the reliability and speed of functional fits.
MACHINE LEARNING-SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Anthony Ferri, Antonio Da Costa, Justine Bauwens, Yoniel Perez-Martin, Aime Pelaiz-Barranco, Jose de los Santos Guerra
Summary: (Pb0.96La0.04)(Zr0.95Ti0.05)(0.99)O-3 ceramics with both rhombohedral and orthorhombic crystallographic structures were successfully produced by solid-state reaction. The room temperature electromechanical performances of the ceramic samples were investigated using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), revealing the coexistence of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases. Specific piezoloops were recorded with PFM, providing insights into the stable and metastable behaviors of the antiferroelectric phase. These findings highlight the robustness of PFM as a technique for studying local antiferroelectricity.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Patrick D. Lomenzo, Liam Collins, Richard Ganser, Bohan Xu, Roberto Guido, Alexei Gruverman, Alfred Kersch, Thomas Mikolajick, Uwe Schroeder
Summary: The emergence of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric properties in HfO2 and ZrO2 high-k dielectrics is leading to unexpected technological developments. However, the lack of clear distinction between these behaviors is hindering progress. This study uses band-excitation piezoresponse force microscopy and molecular dynamics to elucidate electric field-induced phase transitions in ZrO2-based antiferroelectrics. The nanoscale phase transitions discovered in this study provide new opportunities for the development of nanoelectronic devices.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Haidong Lu, Yueze Tan, Leonie Richarz, Jiali He, Bo Wang, Dennis Meier, Long-Qing Chen, Alexei Gruverman
Summary: Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is used to investigate the electromechanical behavior of the head-to-head (H-H) and tail-to-tail (T-T) domain walls on the non-polar surfaces of three uniaxial ferroelectric materials. It is found that the crystal at the H-H and T-T domain walls exhibit an out-of-plane deformation even in the absence of the out-of-plane polarization component due to a specific form of the piezoelectric tensor. The dominant contribution comes from the counteracting shear strains on both sides of the domain walls, regardless of the materials' symmetry.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jason P. Killgore, Larry Robins, Liam Collins
Summary: The presence of electrostatic forces and associated artifacts complicates the interpretation of PFM and ESM. The existence of an electrostatic blind spot along the length of the cantilever can be used to separate unwanted long range electrostatic contributions from short range electromechanical responses of interest. ESBS-PFM allows for absolute quantification of piezoelectric coupling coefficients independent of probe, lab or experimental conditions.
NANOSCALE ADVANCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Swati Deswal, Rishukumar Panday, Dipti R. Naphade, Pierre-Andre Cazade, Sarah Guerin, Jan K. Zareba, Alexander Steiner, Satishchandra Ogale, Thomas D. Anthopoulos, Ramamoorthy Boomishankar
Summary: Cyclophosphazenes have been found to be a versatile platform for various functional systems, and this study reports the first supramolecular ferroelectric compound based on an organophosphazene. The compound exhibits multiaxial polarization and shows potential for piezoelectric energy harvesting applications. The high performance of the compound is attributed to the flexible layered supramolecular assembly, which allows for mechanical stress-induced distortions.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Arwa Bazaid, Fengyuan Zhang, Qiancheng Zhang, Sabine Neumayer, Denise Denning, Stefan Habelitz, Ana Marina Ferreira, Brian J. Rodriguez
Summary: Since the discovery of piezoelectricity in bone in 1957, there has been a debate about the functional role of collagen piezoelectricity. The investigation of piezoelectricity in collagen has generated interest in bone remodeling, but there are conflicting reports about its presence in a humid environment. This study used lateral piezoresponse force microscopy to investigate the electromechanical properties of type I collagen from a rat tail tendon at the nanoscale, and found that collagen retains its piezoelectric behavior even in a biologically relevant humidity range.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Chin Chyi Loo, Sha Shiong Ng, Wei Sea Chang
Summary: The recent progress in piezotronics and piezo-phototronics has revealed new methods for adjusting/enhancing the performance of GaN-based devices, and the photostrictive effect in GaN samples with InGaN/GaN MQWs can be elucidated through the combination of light-induced surface electric field and converse piezoelectric effect. The enhanced piezoelectric coefficient under laser illumination suggests the potential for adjustable photostrictive responses in optomechanical sensors/actuators by manipulating the strain state of MQWs.
Article
Instruments & Instrumentation
Chunlin Song, Boyuan Huang, Jun Feng, Jiangyu Li
Summary: In this study, a sequential excitation (SE) module was developed to achieve high fidelity piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) by using a customized discrete frequency sweep signal for drive excitation and sampling the AC component of piezoresponse using an oscilloscope. A fast analysis method was also developed for efficient fitting of the cantilever's transfer function during scanning.
REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
(2022)
Review
Crystallography
Hana Ursic, Matej Sadl, Uros Prah, Val Fisinger
Summary: This review paper focuses on the analysis of bulk multiferroic ceramics using magnetic force microscopy (MFM). The article is divided into four sections, including introduction, preparation of samples prior to MFM examination, reviews of MFM analyses performed on bulk multiferroic ceramics with and without external magnetic fields, and finally, the conclusions and outlook for the future.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
S. Ghara, K. Geirhos, L. Kuerten, P. Lunkenheimer, V Tsurkan, M. Fiebig, I Kezsmarki
Summary: The study reports on the giant conductivity of domain walls in the non-oxide ferroelectric GaV4S8, extending the source of phenomena beyond oxide electronics. Conductive domain walls forming in zig-zagging structures, composed of head-to-head and tail-to-tail domain wall segments at the nanoscale, exhibit remarkably high conductivity, unseen in oxide ferroelectrics. These effectively 2D domain walls can be mobilized by magnetic fields, triggering abrupt conductance changes as large as eight orders of magnitude.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Mads C. Weber, Yannik Zemp, Morgan Trassin, Arkadiy Simonov, Jakob Schaab, Bin Gao, Sang-Wook Cheong, Thomas Lottermoser, Manfred Fiebig
Summary: This study focuses on the polar domain structure and hysteresis behavior in hybrid improper ferroelectrics, highlighting differences with proper and improper ferroelectrics, such as asymmetric phase transitions and the expansion of nonpolar phases into polar phases during the transition process.
ADVANCED ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Binbin Chen, Nicolas Gauquelin, Nives Strkalj, Sizhao Huang, Ufuk Halisdemir, Minh Duc Nguyen, Daen Jannis, Martin F. Sarott, Felix Eltes, Stefan Abel, Matjaz Spreitzer, Manfred Fiebig, Morgan Trassin, Jean Fompeyrine, Johan Verbeeck, Mark Huijben, Guus Rijnders, Gertjan Koster
Summary: The study presents asymmetric oxide superlattices fabricated on silicon, which exhibit enhanced out-of-plane polarization by utilizing coherent strain. Optical measurements reveal a stronger out-of-plane polarized state in the superlattices. Additionally, the coherent strain suppresses the magnetism of the oxide films.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Saul Velez, Sandra Ruiz-Gomez, Jakob Schaab, Elzbieta Gradauskaite, Martin S. Wornle, Pol Welter, Benjamin J. Jacot, Christian L. Degen, Morgan Trassin, Manfred Fiebig, Pietro Gambardella
Summary: Magnetic skyrmions are promising topological spin structures for high-density memory devices and novel computing schemes. The control of skyrmion bubbles' motion and the modification of their velocity and depinning threshold can be achieved by interfacial stabilization and current-driven control, as well as exchange coupling with other layers.
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Martin F. Sarott, Marta D. Rossell, Manfred Fiebig, Morgan Trassin
Summary: This study demonstrates the ability to continuously modulate the remanent polarization at the nanoscale in PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 films by driving the system towards the instability at the morphotropic phase boundary, achieving multilevel switching.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Amade Bortis, Morgan Trassin, Manfred Fiebig, Thomas Lottermoser
Summary: In this study, phase-field simulations were used to demonstrate how interfaces can be utilized to control the formation of charged domain walls, including the ability to select the dominant domain-wall type through appropriate thin-film engineering. The influence of interfaces on the type and distribution of domain walls provides a means to control the transport properties of materials.
PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ehsan Hassanpour, Yannik Zemp, Yusuke Tokunaga, Yasujiro Taguchi, Yoshinori Tokura, Thomas Lottermoser, Manfred Fiebig, Mads C. Weber
Summary: In this study, we demonstrate the reversible transfer of a domain pattern between magnetization and electric-polarization space in a multiferroic material. The magnetic field can transfer a ferromagnetic domain pattern into an identical ferroelectric domain pattern while erasing it at its magnetic origin. This finding has important implications for the application of multiferroic materials.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Martin F. F. Sarott, Ursina Bucheli, Adrian Lochmann, Manfred Fiebig, Morgan Trassin
Summary: The integration of reliable thin-film ferroelectrics into oxide electronics requires understanding the interplay of growth parameters on polarization. In this study, the polarization of strained PZT films is investigated during epitaxial growth and it is found that the orientation of the polarization can change after growth completion. The temperature and oxygen partial pressure during growth significantly affect the polarization orientation, with higher temperature and oxygen pressure favoring a uniform downward polarization. The mechanism of polarization reorientation is attributed to the formation of a charged Pb defect gradient toward the film surface.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Chia-Jung Yang, Jingwen Li, Manfred Fiebig, Shovon Pal
Summary: This Review summarizes the use of THz light to drive quantum materials out of equilibrium and retrieve information on the associated correlation processes and many-body dynamics. THz light is shown to induce superconducting-like features in layered superconductors and drive quasiparticles in heavy-fermion systems out of equilibrium. It also provides examples of phase transitions driven dynamically by pumping correlated systems using THz light.
NATURE REVIEWS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Olav W. Sandvik, Aaron Merlin Mueller, Hakon W. Anes, Manuel Zahn, Jiali He, Manfred Fiebig, Thomas Lottermoser, Tadej Rojac, Dennis Meier, Jan Schultheiss
Summary: Mechanical pressure is able to control the structure, electric and magnetic order in solid-state systems, allowing the modification of their physical properties. In this study, we investigate the effect of pressure on a nonferroelastic ferroelectric material, ErMnO3, which is characterized by the absence of classical stress-strain coupling and the formation of domains governed by creation-annihilation processes of topological defects. By annealing ErMnO3 polycrystals under different pressure conditions, we demonstrate the transformation of nonferroelastic vortex-like domains into stripe-like domains, whose width is determined by the applied pressure. This work presents the possibility to utilize mechanical pressure for domain engineering in nonferroelastic ferroelectrics and provides a means to control their dielectric and piezoelectric responses.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Elzbieta Gradauskaite, Quintin N. Meier, Natascha Gray, Martin F. Sarott, Tizian Scharsach, Marco Campanini, Thomas Moran, Alexander Vogel, Karla Del Cid-Ledezma, Bryan D. Huey, Marta D. Rossell, Manfred Fiebig, Morgan Trassin
Summary: This paper reports the stabilization of ultrathin out-of-plane ferroelectricity in oxide heterostructures through the design of an artificial flux-closure architecture. By inserting an in-plane-polarized ferroelectric epitaxial buffer, the continuity of polarization at the interface is maintained, resulting in the emergence of polarization in ultrathin ferroelectric films.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Chia-Jung Yang, Kristin Kliemt, Cornelius Krellner, Johann Kroha, Manfred Fiebig, Shovon Pal
Summary: Using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, evidence for fermionic critical slowing down in YbRh2Si2 close to a quantum phase transition is found. The heavy-fermion quasiparticles in the heavy-Fermi-liquid state break down at the transition, as indicated by measurements of critical slowing down. This breakdown of heavy-fermion quasiparticles near the quantum phase transition could classify this system among a wider family of fermionic quantum phase transitions that is yet to be fully explored.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Gabriele De Luca, Manfred Fiebig
Summary: By using nondestructive remote probing and symmetry analysis, we can distinguish the coexisting polar orientations in tetragonal ferroelectric films and quantify the volumetric ratio between different polarized domains.
PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Jialiang Gao, Charles-Henri Lambert, Richard Schlitz, Manfred Fiebig, Pietro Gambardella, Saul Velez
Summary: By using nonlocal harmonic voltage measurements, the researchers investigated magnon transport in perpendicularly magnetized ultrathin Tm3Fe5O12 (TmIG) films coupled to Pt electrodes. They found that the first harmonic nonlocal voltage captures spin-driven magnon transport, while the second harmonic is dominated by thermoelectric voltages driven by current-induced thermal gradients at the detector. The researchers also determined the magnon diffusion length and the different components of the thermoelectric voltages in TmIG.
PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Nives Strkalj, Amade Bortis, Marco Campanini, Marta D. Rossell, Manfred Fiebig, Morgan Trassin
Summary: An exotic coexistence of polar states in ferroelectric|dielectric PbTiO3|SrTiO3 heterostructures has been investigated using optical second harmonic generation. The phase coexistence was identified down to a single PTO|STO bilayer and interlayer coupling was found to play an important role in setting the final polarization state. These findings demonstrate the potential of noninvasive optical techniques for understanding complex ordering of dipole moments in oxide heterostructures.
