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Three‐State Ferroelastic Switching and Large Electromechanical Responses in PbTiO 3 Thin Films
Author(s) -
Damodaran Anoop R.,
Pandya Shishir,
Agar Josh C.,
Cao Ye,
Vasudevan Rama K.,
Xu Ruijuan,
Saremi Sahar,
Li Qian,
Kim Jieun,
McCarter Margaret R.,
Dedon Liv R.,
Angsten Tom,
Balke Nina,
Jesse Stephen,
Asta Mark,
Kalinin Sergei V.,
Martin Lane W.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201702069
Subject(s) - materials science , piezoresponse force microscopy , condensed matter physics , ferroelasticity , degenerate energy levels , thin film , lanio , excitation , ferroelectricity , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , physics , dielectric , quantum mechanics
Leveraging competition between energetically degenerate states to achieve large field‐driven responses is a hallmark of functional materials, but routes to such competition are limited. Here, a new route to such effects involving domain‐structure competition is demonstrated, which arises from strain‐induced spontaneous partitioning of PbTiO 3 thin films into nearly energetically degenerate, hierarchical domain architectures of coexisting c/a and a 1 / a 2 domain structures. Using band‐excitation piezoresponse force microscopy, this study manipulates and acoustically detects a facile interconversion of different ferroelastic variants via a two‐step, three‐state ferroelastic switching process (out‐of‐plane polarized c + → in‐plane polarized a → out‐of‐plane polarized c − state), which is concomitant with large nonvolatile electromechanical strains (≈1.25%) and tunability of the local piezoresponse and elastic modulus (>23%). It is further demonstrated that deterministic, nonvolatile writing/erasure of large‐area patterns of this electromechanical response is possible, thus showing a new pathway to improved function and properties.