Ground state and properties of ferroelectric superlattices based on crystals of the perovskite family

The crystal structure of the ground state of ten free-standing ferroelectric superlattices based on crystals with the perovskite structure (BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃, PbTiO₃/SrTiO₃, PbTiO₃/PbZrO₃, SrZrO₃/SrTiO₃, PbZrO₃/BaZrO₃, BaTiO₃/BaZrO₃, PbTiO₃/BaTiO₃, BaTiO₃/CaTiO₃, KNbO₃/KTaO₃, and KNbO₃/NaNbO₃) was calculated from first principles within the density functional theory taking into account criteria for stability of the structures with respect to acoustic and optical distortions. It was shown that the ground state in all the considered superlattices corresponds to the ferroelectric phase. It was found that the polarization vector has a tendency toward a tilt to the plane of the superlattice layers, which makes it possible to decrease the electrostatic and elastic energy in the superlattices consisting of materials with different ferroelectric properties. The importance of the inclusion of structural distortions due to unstable phonons at the Brillouin zone boundary, which, in a number of cases, lead to significant changes in ferroelectric and dielectric properties of the superlattices, was demonstrated.     

Ab initio studies of dielectric,piezoelectric, and elastic properties of BaTiO 3 /SrTiO 3 ferroelectric superlattices

The phonon spectrum; crystal structure of the polar phase; spontaneous polarization; dielectric constant, piezoelectric, and elastic moduli tensors for free_standing and substrate_supported superlattices mBaTiO₃/nSrTiO₃ (with m = n = 1–4) were calculated within the density functional theory. The simulation of properties of the disordered Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ solid solution using two special quasirandom SQS-4 structures and their comparison with the properties of the superlattices revealed a tendency of the BaTiO₃-SrTiO₃ system to superstructure ordering and showed that the superlattices are thermodynamically quite stable. The ground state of the free-standing superlattice corresponds to the monoclinic polar phase Cm, which transforms to the tetragonal polar phase P4mm under in-plane compressive strain of the superlattice and to the orthorhombic polar phase Amm2 under in-plane tensile strain. With a change in the in-plane lattice parameter, in the vicinity of boundaries between neighboring polar phases, some optical and acoustic modes soften and some components of the static dielectric constant, piezoelectric, and elastic moduli tensors diverge critically.     

Enhancement of dielectric and ferroelectric properties in ferroelectric superlattices

I studied theoretically the enhancement of remanent polarization and dielectric permittivity of interfacial-coupled ferroelectric superlattices based on the Landau–Ginzburg theory. Our model adopts the Landau–Khalatnikov equation to describe hysteresis behavior and takes the time-dependent space-charge-limited conductivity into account to investigate the ferroelectric and dielectric properties of ferroelectric superlattices. The results are in good agreement with recent experimental observations on the enhancement of remanent polarization and permittivity of BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ superlattices and heterolayered Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ thin films.     

3D dependence of the dielectric dispersion in a BaTiO3 single crystal

The 3D dependences ?′(log f, T) and tanδ(logf, T) of a perfect BaTiO₃ single crystal grown by the Remeika method have been studied in the ranges f = 1–2 × 10⁷ Hz and T = ?80–130°C. These dependences characterize a transition from the paraelectric phase (121.5°C) as a near-antiferroelectric transition followed by the transition to the tetragonal phase at ～79.5°C. According to a number of signs, the range 121.5–79.5°C corresponds to a metastable phase typical of first-order phase transitions. The unexpected result of this work has been discussed with invoking the hypothesis on the BaTiO₃ structure in the paraelectric phase, according to which it consists of three antiferroelectric states oriented along the crystallographic axes. Using the dielectric properties of BaTiO₃ as an example, the method of direct correct determination of the temperatures of the structural transformations from the anomaly of tanδ(logf, T) has also been demonstrated.     

Morphology dependence of the dielectric properties of epitaxial BaTiO3 films and epitaxial BaTiO3/SrTiO3 multilayers

Epitaxial BaTiO₃ films and epitaxial BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ multilayers were grown by pulsed laser deposition on vicinal surfaces of (001)-oriented Nb-doped SrTiO₃ (SrTiO₃:Nb) single-crystal substrates. Atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the surface topography of the deposited films. The morphology of the films, of the BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ interfaces, and of the column boundaries was investigated by cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Measurements of the dielectric properties were performed by comparing BaTiO₃ films and BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ multilayers of different numbers of individual layers, but equal overall thickness. The dielectric loss saturates for a thickness above 300 nm and linearly decreases with decreasing film thickness below a thickness of 75 nm. At the same thickness of 75 nm, the thickness dependence of the dielectric constant also exhibits a change in the linear slope both for BaTiO₃ films and BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ multilayers. This behaviour is explained by the change observed in the grain morphology at a thickness of 75 nm. For the thickness dependence of the dielectric constant, two phenomenological models are considered, viz. a series-capacitor model and a dead-layer model. PACS 77.22.-d; 77.22.Ch; 77.55.+f; 77.22.Gm; 77.84.Dy; 81.15.-z ; 81.16.Mk; 81.65.-b; 68.55.-a; 68.37.-d     

铌酸锂晶体中多畴层带区倍频光的研究

本文研究用声光调Q-YAG激光器作为基波光源,测量了LiNbO₃及BNN晶体中倍频光强-温度曲线。在生长层区,倍频曲线上往往出现双峰,同时有一一对应的NPM双光环出现。LiNbO₃的双峰之一在极化处理后消失,本文对此峰的产生进行了分析。LiNbO₃多畴层带区倍频光强比单畴区大10倍左右,实验表明此乃层带区180°畴的形成导致应力松弛的结果。 关键词：     

Dielectric response in ferroelectric BaTiO3

The far-infrared optical and dielectric properties of ferroelectric perovskite titanate powder BaTiO₃ are reported. The terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) measurement reveals that the low frequency dielectric response of BaTiO₃ is closely related to the lowest pair of transverse optical (TO) and longitudinal optical (LO) modes near at 180 cm⁻¹, which is verified by Raman spectroscopy. This result provides a better understanding of the relation of low-frequency dielectric function with the optical phonon mode for ferroelectric materials. Combining terahertz TDS with Raman spectra, the overall low frequency optical phonon response of BaTiO₃ is presented in an extended spectral range from 6.7 to 1200 cm⁻¹.     

Effects of BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> and SrTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> as the buffer layers of epitaxial BiFeO<Subscript>3</Subscript> thin films

BiFeO₃ (BFO) thin films with BaTiO₃ (BTO) or SrTiO₃ (STO) as buffer layer were epitaxially grown on SrRuO₃-covered SrTiO₃ substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements show that the BTO buffer causes tensile strain in the BFO films, whereas the STO buffer causes compressive strain. Different ferroelectric domain structures caused by these two strain statuses are revealed by piezoelectric force microscopy. Electrical and magnetical measurements show that the tensile-strained BFO/BTO samples have reduced leakage current and large ferroelectric polarization and magnetization, compared with compressively strained BFO/STO. These results demonstrate that the electrical and magnetical properties of BFO thin films can be artificially modified by using a buffer layer.     

Effect of calcium substitution on structural,dielectric, ferroelectric,piezoelectric, and energy storage properties of BaTiO3

The effect of calcium substitution on the structural, dielectric, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and energy storage properties of BaTiO₃ (BT) ceramics has been investigated. XRD confirmed the phase formation of Barium Calcium Titanate (BCT), and structural Rietveld refinement was used to estimate the lattice parameters. It is evident from the SEM data that the average grain size decreases as calcium is added. At Curie temperature (110 °C), BCT 0.10 ceramic has a good dielectric constant of 15834 and a very low dielectric loss of 0.009. According to the ferroelectric and piezoelectric investigations, BCT 0.10 exhibits maximum spontaneous polarization with the highest piezoelectric charge coefficient of 100 pC/N. BCT 0.10 has a maximum energy storage density of 96.8 mJ/cm³ and a good energy storage efficiency of 53.9%, which is around three times that of pure BaTiO₃. These results suggest that the BCT ceramic has good potential for energy storage applications.     

Dielectric response of a (1000 nm)SrTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> layer epitaxially grown on (001)La<Subscript>0.67</Subscript>Ca<Subscript>0.33</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> to temperature variation and electric field

The structure and dielectric characteristics of the (1000 nm)SrTiO₃ spacer in a (001)SrRuO₃ ‖ (001)SrTiO₃ ‖ (001)La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ trilayer heterostructure grown on a (001)(LaAlO₃)_0.3+(Sr₂AlTaO₆)_0.7 substrate have been studied. Both oxide electrodes, as well as the strontium titanate layer, were cube-on-cube epitaxially grown. The unit cell parameter in the SrTiO₃ layer measured in the substrate plane (3.908±0.003 Å) practically coincided with that determined along the normal to the substrate surface (3.909±0.003 Å). The temperature dependence of the real part of the permittivity ?′ of the SrTiO₃ layer in the range 70–180 K fits the relation (?′)^?1 ～ ? ₀ ^?1 C ₀ ^?1 (T-T _C ) well, where C₀ and T_C are the Curie constant and the Curie-Weiss temperature, respectively, for bulk strontium titanate crystals and ?₀ is the free-space permittivity. The data obtained on the temperature dependence of the permittivity of SrTiO₃ films enabled us to evaluate the effective depth of electric field penetration into the manganite electrode (L _e ≈ 0.5 nm) and the corresponding capacitance (C _e ≈1×10^?6 F/cm²) of the interface separating the (001)SrTiO₃ layer from the (001)La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ bottom electrode.     

Orientational changes in the nematic liquid crystal structure on a polymer surface induced by phase separation in a magnetic field

The change in the domain texture of the 5CB nematic liquid crystal on the surface of a polyvinyl butyral gelatinous polymer solution cured in a magnetic field is studied optically. The alignment of the nematic is described by the effective order parameter S* of the polydomain cells. The anchoring energy of a liquid crystal with gelatinous polymer W _ϕ = 1 × 10⁻³ erg/cm₂ is determined.     

脉冲激光淀积BaTiO3薄膜的介电与铁电特性

用脉冲激光淀积方法在SrTiO₃衬底上制备了BaTiO₃/YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ（铁电/超导）双层膜，X射线分析表明BaTiO₃薄膜是高度c取向的．对BaTiO₃薄膜的介电和铁电性能进行了实验研究．观察到铁电薄膜特有的电滞线和蝶型C-V曲线，薄膜呈现出较好的铁电性，在铁电随机存储等领域有重要的应用前景 关键词：     

Ferroelectricity and structure of BaTiO3 grown on YBa 2Cu3O_{7 - \delta } thin films

We have investigated the crystal structure and the ferroelectric properties of BaTiO₃ thin films with YBa₂Cu₃O as the bottom and Au as the top electrode. Epitaxial heterostructures of YBa₂Cu₃O and BaTiO₃ were prepared by dc and rf sputtering, respectively. The crystal structure of the films was characterised by X-ray diffraction. The ferroelectric behaviour of the BaTiO₃ films was confirmed by hysteresis loop measurements using a Sawyer Tower circuit. We obtain a coercive field of 30 kV/cm and a remanent polarisation of 1.25 μC/cm². At sub-switching fields the capacitance of the films obeys a relation analogous to the Rayleigh law. This behaviour indicates an interaction of domain walls with randomly distributed pinning centres. At a field of 5 MV/m we calculate a 3% contribution of the irreversible domain wall motion to the total dielectric constant. Received 24 June 1999 and Received in final form 27 August 1999     

［（SrTiO3）n/（SrTi0.8Nb0.2Ｏ3）m］20/LaAlO3超晶格的制备及其激光感生热电电压效应

采用脉冲激光沉积（PLD）镀膜技术在倾斜10°的LaAlO₃（100）单晶衬底上制备了（SrTiO₃）_n/（SrTi0.8Nb_0．2Ｏ₃）_m系列超晶格.在超晶格薄膜的XRD图谱中清楚地观察到周期调制的卫星峰结构.从卫星峰的分布计算了超周期,进而得到了在生长SrTiO₃和SrTi_0．8Nb_{0．2< 关键词： 3}）_n/（SrTi_0．8Nb_0．2Ｏ₃）_m］20/LAO（100）超晶格')" href="#">［（SrTiO₃）_n/（SrTi_0．8Nb_0．2Ｏ₃）_m］20/LAO（100）超晶格 激光感生热电电压 各项异性Seebeck系数 原子层热电堆     

Structural and electronic properties of Fe-doped BaTiO3 and SrTiO3

We have performed first principles calculations of Fe-doped BaTiO3 and SrTiO3. Dopant formation energy, structure distortion, band structure and density of states have been computed. The dopant formation energy is found to be 6.8eV and 6.5eV for Fe-doped BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 respectively. The distances between Fe impurity and its nearest O atoms and between Fe atom and Ba or Sr atoms are smaller than those of the corresponding undoped bulk systems. The Fe defect energy band is obtained, which mainly originates from Fe 3d electrons. The band gap is still an indirect one after Fe doping for both BaTiO3 and SrWiO3, but the gap changes from Γ-R point to Γ-X point.     

Electronic structure of BaTiO3 using resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy at the Ba-L3 and Ti-K absorption edges

We have studied the electronic properties of the ferroelectric barium titanate BaTiO₃ using two complementary bulk-sensitive spectroscopic probes, resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the partial fluorescence mode (PFY-XAS) at the Ba-L₃ and Ti-K absorption edges. Contrary to a previous study, we found no fine structure in the pre-edge area of the PFY-XAS spectrum at the Ba-L₃ edge, and no temperature-induced spectral change was observed between room temperature and 150 °C. This result is not supportive of the possible presence of the displacement around Ba²⁺ at the Curie temperature. RXES spectra were measured at the Ti-K edge for BaTiO₃, along with SrTiO₃ and La-doped metallic SrTiO₃. The photon energy of the emission peak is found to be nearly constant throughout the absorption edge for all three compounds. We deduce the Ti 3d states to have a delocalized character, in contrast with the Ba 5d states, a property which is consistent with the proposed scenario of the formation of electric dipoles in BaTiO₃.     

Influence of domain boundary width on the statics of 90° domains in epitaxial ferroelectric thin films

The influence of the domain boundary width on the statics of single 90° elastic domains (twins) in epitaxial ferroelectric tetragonal films grown on a cubic substrate is theoretically investigated. The inhomogeneous internal stresses arising in polydomain epitaxial systems are calculated by the effective dislocation method. The elastic energy stored in the heterostructure is determined. The equilibrium domain size is found and the stability diagram for single domains at different wall widths is constructed by minimizing the total internal energy of the system. It is demonstrated that, as the domain boundary width 2w increases, the stability region of 90° domains increases and qualitatively changes for ultrathin films when the parameter 2w exceeds the specific critical value 2w _cr. The equilibrium width 2w* of domain walls in thin films is predicted to be larger compared to the width 2w ₀ of domain boundaries in a macroscopic crystal.     

Film thickness dependence of electro-optic effect in epitaxial BaTiO3 thin films

Based on the phenomenological Landau-Devonshire theory, we investigate the film thickness dependence of ferroelectric and electro-optic properties of epitaxial BaTiO₃ thin films grown on SrTiO₃ and MgO substrates. By using the effective substrate lattice parameter concept, the film thickness dependence of misfit strain is incorporated into the theory. Therefore, the film thickness dependence of ferroelectric and electro-optic properties in epitaxial BaTiO₃ thin films can be explained. Moreover, a large quadratic electro-optic effect was obtained in the BaTiO₃ thin films, which is in good agreement with the experimental result of BaTiO₃ thin films on the MgO substrate.     

Raman spectroscopy of BaTiO3/(Ba,Sr)TiO3 superlattices

A series of BaTiO₃/Ba_{1 ? x} Sr _x TiO₃ (BT/BST) superlattices were prepared by pulsed laser deposition on MgO substrates with a constant period of 80 Å (40 Å BT and 40 Å BST) and varying compositions of the BST layer so that the Ba/Sr concentration ratios were 0/100, 30/70, 40/60, 50/50, 60/40, 70/30, 100/0. The soft mode E(1TO) of the polarized Raman spectra transformed depending on the Ba/Sr ratio in the BST layer. As the Sr concentration in the BST layers increased from 0 to 100%, the E(1TO) soft mode half-width varied from 171 to 103 cm^?1 and its frequency increased from 31 to 109 cm^?1 due to the interaction between the epitaxial layers forming the superlattices.     

Energy gap of the superconducting semiconductor SrTiO3−x determined by tunneling

From measurements of the differential resistance for tunneling junctions prepared from SrTiO_3?x and In(Bi) electrodes with Schottky tunneling barriers the superconducting energy gap of SrTi O_3?x(n = 3 × 10¹⁹ cm^?3) is derived. We find indications for the fact that the 1.9 meV soft phonon mode Γ₅₊ in tetragonal SrTiO₃ is important for the effective electron-electron interaction in superconducting SrTiO_3?x.