Properties of ferroelectric nanodots embedded in a polarizable medium: atomistic simulations

An atomistic approach is used to investigate finite-temperature properties of ferroelectric nanodots that are embedded in a polarizable medium. Different phases are predicted, depending on the ferroelectric strengths of the material constituting the dot and of the system forming the medium. In particular, novel states, exhibiting a coexistence between two kinds of order parameters or possessing a peculiar order between dipole vortices of adjacent dots, are discovered. We also discuss the origins of these phases, e.g., depolarizing fields and medium-driven interactions between dots.     

Toroidal ferroelectricity in PbTiO3 nanoparticles

We report from first-principles-based atomistic simulations that ferroelectricity can be sustained in PbTiO(3) nanoparticles of only a few lattice constants in size as a result of a toroidal ordering. We find that size-induced topological transformations lead to the stabilization of a ferroelectric bubble by the alignment of vortex cores along a closed path. These transformations, which are driven by the aspect ratio of the nanostructure, change the topology of the polarization field, producing a rich variety of polar configurations. For sufficiently flat nanostructures, a multibubble state bridges the gap between 0D nanodots and 2D ultrathin films. The thermal properties of the ferroelectric bubbles indicate that this state is suitable for the development of nanometric devices.     

Narrow Waveguide Based on Ferroelectric Domain Wall

Ferroelectric materials are spontaneous symmetry breaking systems that are characterized by ordered electric polarizations.Similar to its ferromagnetic counterpart,a ferroelectric domain wall can be regarded as a soft interface separating two different ferroelectric domains.Here we show that two bound state excitations of electric polarization(polar wave),or the vibration and breathing modes,can be hosted and propagate within the ferroelectric domain wall.In particular,the vibration polar wave has zero frequency gap,thus is constricted deeply inside ferroelectric domain wall,and can even propagate in the presence of local pinnings.The ferroelectric domain wall waveguide as demonstrated here offers a new paradigm in developing ferroelectric information processing units.     

Novel complex phenomena in ferroelectric nanocomposites

A first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian is used to investigate finite-temperature properties of ferroelectric nanocomposites made of periodic arrays of ferroelectric nanowires embedded in a matrix formed by another ferroelectric material. Novel transitions and features related to flux-closure configurations are found. Examples include (i)?a vortex core transition, that is characterized by the change of the vortex cores from being axisymmetric to exhibiting a 'broken symmetry'; (ii)?translational mode of the vortex cores; (iii)?striking zigzag dipolar chains along the vortex core axis; and (iv)?phase-locking of ferroelectric vortices accompanied by ferroelectric antivortices. These complex phenomena are all found to coexist with a spontaneous electrical polarization aligned along the normal of the plane containing the vortices.     

Ferroelectricity induced by spin-dependent metal-ligand hybridization in Ba₂CoGe₂O₇

We have investigated the variation of induced ferroelectric polarization under a magnetic field with various directions and magnitudes in a staggered antiferromagnet Ba?CoGe?O?. While the ferroelectric polarization cannot be explained by the well-accepted spin current model nor the exchange striction mechanism, we have shown that it is induced by the spin-dependent p-d hybridization between the transition metal (Co) and ligand (O) via the spin-orbit interaction. On the basis of the correspondence between the direction of electric polarization and the magnetic state, we have also demonstrated the electrical control of the magnetization direction.     

Phase transitions in epitaxial (-110) BiFeO3 films from first principles

The effect of misfit strain on properties of epitaxial BiFeO3 films that are grown along the pseudocubic [110] direction, rather than along the usual [001] direction, is predicted from density-functional theory. These films adopt the monoclinic Cc space group for compressive misfit strains smaller in magnitude than ?1.6% and for any investigated tensile strain. In this Cc phase, both polarization and the axis about which antiphase oxygen octahedra tilt rotate within the epitaxial plane as the strain varies. Surprisingly and unlike in (001) films, for compressive strain larger in magnitude than ?1.6%, the polarization vanishes and two orthorhombic phases of Pnma and P2(1)2(1)2(1) symmetry successively emerge via strain-induced transitions. The Pnma-to-P2(1)2(1)2(1) transition is a rare example of a so-called pure gyrotropic phase transition, and the P2(1)2(1)2(1) phase exhibits original interpenetrated arrays of ferroelectric vortices and antivortices.     

BiFeO3中各离子在铁电相变中作用本质的第一性原理研究

采用基于密度泛函理论的广义梯度近似方法和赝势平面波法,对多铁材料BiFeO₃的铁电反铁磁相和可能的高温顺电相的电子结构进行了第一性原理研究.计算验证了BiFeO₃基态为G型反铁磁有序,Fe离子的理论磁矩与实验值相符.铁电相变发生后,Bi-6s态和6p态发生了电荷转移,Bi-6s电子的作用更加明显.Born有效电荷的研究表明铁电畸变主要表现为Bi原子的位移,并且电极化强度计算值很好地符合薄膜实验结果.部分态密度的计算表明Bi-6p态的成键轨道与反键轨道间的能量劈裂 关键词： 第一性原理 铁电性 铁电畸变 反铁磁性     

Switching time dispersion and retention of bistable states in Langmuir-Blodgett ferroelectric films

Polarization switching and retention of each of the two polarized states in Langmuir—Blodgett (LB) ferroelectric films are studied using nonlinear dielectric spectroscopy. It is found that polarized states can be preserved for a long time, but the polarization dynamics in 10–40-nm-thick LB films is characterized by a considerable switching-time dispersion. In addition, ferroelectric LB films exhibit clearly manifested asymmetry of switching to states with opposite directions of polarization. To explain the experimental results, a polarization-switching model is proposed that takes into account the energy of interaction of a ferroelectric polymer with boundary surfaces. The effect of inhomogeneity of the LB film structure on the ferroelectric switching dynamics is also discussed.     

可变可转单波片偏振控制器研究

基于PLZT波片的相对相位延迟量可变性和其折射率椭球主光轴的可转性,提出后反馈单个PLZT可变可转波片偏振控制器.采用模拟退火算法进行扰动寻优,仿真结果显示这种控制器是有效的：能将任意输入偏振态转换为稳定的线偏振光而其光强达到总光强的98%以上,在控制过程中相移能在限定范围内变化,避免了由复位重置可能引起的波动.     

Retention characteristics of Au/Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12/Si metal-ferro- electric-semiconductor structure

Lanthanum-substituted bismuth titanate (Bi_3.25La_0.75Ti₃O₁₂) (BLT) thin films were deposited on p-type Si(100) substrates using a chemical solution deposition process. The ferroelectric and dielectric properties of the films with an Au/BLT/Si structure were investigated. It was found that retention behaviors of the capacitors after polling with a negative and positive voltage were very different. The capacitor at an accumulation state exhibited a better retention characteristic than that at a depletion state. A rapid loss of memory for the capacitor at depletion state was found and attributed to the depolarization fields inside the ferroelectric film. It is proposed that the interaction between injected charges and ferroelectric polarization plays a role in the retention properties of the MFS capacitors.     

Electric-field-induced spin flop in BiFeO3 single crystals at room temperature

Bismuth ferrite, BiFeO3, is the only known room-temperature magnetic ferroelectric material. We demonstrate here, using neutron scattering measurements in high quality single crystals, that the antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric order parameters are intimately coupled. Initially in a single ferroelectric state, our crystals have a canted antiferromagnetic structure describing a unique cycloid. Under electrical poling, polarization reorientation induces a spin flop. We argue here that the coupling between the two orders may be stronger in the bulk than in thin films where the cycloid is absent.     

BKT phase transition in a 2D system with long-range dipole-dipole interaction

We consider phase transitions in 2D XY-like systems with long-range dipole-dipole interactions and demonstrate that BKT-type phase transition always occurs separating the ordered (ferroelectric) and the disordered (paraelectric) phases. The low-temperature phase corresponds to a thermal state with bound vortex-antivortex pairs characterized by linear attraction at large distances. Using the Maier-Schwabl topological charge model, we show that bound vortex pairs polarize and screen the vortex-antivortex interaction, leaving only the logarithmic attraction at sufficiently large separations between the vortices. At higher temperatures the pairs dissociate and the phase transition similar to BKT occurs, though at a larger temperature than in a system without the dipole-dipole interaction.     

Surface tension and Curie temperature in ferroelectric nanowires and nanodots

The effect of surface tension associated internal pressure on the Curie phase transition in ferroelectric nanowires and nanodots has been investigated using a modified Landau–Ginzburg–Devonshire phenomenological approach. Based on experimental data on the size- dependent phase transition in freely suspended single-crystalline ferroelectric nanocrystals, bulk surface tension coefficients for BaTiO₃ and PbTiO₃ have been determined to be of the order of 1–2 N/m. The present theoretical study reproduces the size dependence of the transition temperature experimentally acquired in individual BaTiO₃ single-crystalline nanowires. In the case of PbTiO₃ single-crystalline nanodots, however, in order to fit the theoretically calculated size-dependent ferroelectric transition with the experimental data, an effective surface tension coefficient has been introduced, which is size dependent and can be much higher than the bulk value. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Ferroelectricity in spiral magnets

It was recently observed that the ferroelectrics showing the strongest sensitivity to an applied magnetic field are spiral magnets. We present a phenomenological theory of inhomogeneous ferroelectric magnets, which describes their thermodynamics and magnetic field behavior, e.g., dielectric susceptibility anomalies at magnetic transitions and sudden flops of electric polarization in an applied magnetic field. We show that electric polarization can also be induced at domain walls and that magnetic vortices carry electric charge.     

Ferroelectric polarization reversal tuned by magnetic field in a ferroelectric BiFeO3/Nb-doped SrTiO3 heterojunction

Interfacial resistive switching of a ferroelectric semiconductor heterojunction is highly advantageous for the newly developed ferroelectric memristors. Moreover, the interfacial state in the ferroelectric semiconductor heterojunction can be gradually modified by polarization reversal, which may give rise to continuously tunable resistive switching behavior. In this work, the interfacial state of a ferroelectric BiFeO₃/Nb-doped SrTiO₃ junction was modulated by ferroelectric polarization reversal. The dynamics of surface screening charges on the BiFeO₃ layer was also investigated by surface potential measurements, and the decay of the surface potential could be speeded up by the magnetic field. Moreover, ferroelectric polarization reversal of the BiFeO₃ layer was tuned by the magnetic field. This finding could provide a method to enhance the ferroelectric and electrical properties of ferroelectric BiFeO₃ films by tuning the magnetic field.     

自散焦非局域非线性材料中的光学涡旋孤子

通过数值模拟的方法对非局域非线性自散焦材料中的光学 涡旋孤子的传输特性以及相互作用特性进行了研究. 研究表明, 拓扑荷|m|=1的非局域涡旋孤子是稳定的, 而拓扑荷|m|>1的非局域涡旋孤子均具有拓扑不稳定性. 在微扰存在的情况下以及在近距离相互作用的过程中, |m|>1的涡旋孤子会分裂成一系列的|m|=1的涡旋孤子. 非局域涡旋孤子与局域涡旋孤子具有相同的长距离相互作用模式, 即点涡旋相互作用模式. 但两者的短距离相互作用存在一些差别, 在相同的距离下, 两涡旋间的相互绕转的周期随着材料的非局域响应长度增大而增大. 关键词： 非局域非线性薛定谔方程 自散焦 涡旋孤子     

掺镧锆锡钛酸铅陶瓷极化强度变化量对电子发射电流强度的影响

铁电阴极因其优异的电子发射性能在高功率微波管的电子束源、平板显示技术以及宇航推进器等领域 有着广阔应用前景而日益受到人们的重视.大量研究表明,铁电阴极电子发射性能受阴极材料性能的影响. 在激励电场作用下,铁电阴极材料会产生表面非屏蔽电荷而引起极化强度的变化, 这表明铁电阴极电子发射性能可能与阴极材料的极化强度变化量存在着某种关系. 为研究阴极材料极化强度变化量对铁电阴极电子发射性能的影响,以掺镧锆锡钛酸铅铁电和反铁电陶瓷样品 作为阴极材料,通过正半周电滞回线测试得到阴极材料在不同电场强度下的极化强度变化量, 测量得到电子发射电流强度随激励电场的变化曲线,并分析了电子发射电流强度与极化强度变化量的关系. 结果表明,两种样品电子发射电流强度与极化强度变化量正相关.     

Gauge vortices on a square lattice

The effective interaction between gauge vortices on a square lattice is revealed to be attractive at short distance and oscillate between repulsion and attraction at long distance. It is analyzed that the strong attraction at short distance makes the gauge vortices cluster at a given flux concentration; while the oscillatory nature in the interaction potential is the consequence of the existence of the electron Fermi surface in the nonuniform flux phases states.     

Gauge vortices on a square lattice

The effective interaction between gauge vortices on a square lattice is revealed to be attractive at short distance and oscillate between repulsion and attraction at long distance. It is analyzed that the strong attraction at short distance makes the gauge vortices cluster at a given flux concentration; while the oscillatory nature in the interaction potential is the consequence of the existence of the electron Fermi surface in the nonuniform flux phases states.     

Fast wavelength-parallel polarimeter for broadband optical networks

We describe a novel wavelength-parallel polarimeter operating in the light-wave band that measures the complete state of polarization of 256 wavelengths in parallel within 20 ms (software-limited), with the potential for submillisecond operation. By use of fast switching ferroelectric liquid crystals in conjunction with an InGaAs arrayed detector, selection and wavelength-parallel detection of individual polarization components can be achieved within approximately 150 microseconds. This instrument offers unprecedented sensing capability that is relevant to the compensation of polarization-related impairments in high-speed light-wave communications.