Crystallographic orientation dependence of ferroelectric domain walls in antiferroelectric lead zirconate thin films

Domains of antiferroelectric PbZrO₃ have been studied. The (111) PbZrO₃ has lower field transitions due to the reduction of the angle between the ferroelectric polar axis and the applied electric field. The study of the permittivity reveals also that the (111) PbZrO₃ has a higher correlation of dipoles (|S_hf| = 0.007) due to the energy gain associated with their orientation. Therefore, the (111) crystallographic orientation is a better choice for obtaining easily switching domain. The dielectric response of the domain walls in the (100) and (111) PbZrO₃ are identical because they have the same environment (same grain size and similar defects) and interact in the same way. Only the domain wall density is higher in the (111) PbZrO₃ due to its lower crystallographic orientation factor. Different crystallographic directions have more obstacles due to the inhomogeneity of the crystallization and consequently has more nucleation site for domain walls.     

Phase transitions and domain structures in thin ferroelectric films

Recent advances in technology made available high quality thin ferroelectric films and ferroelectric–paraelectric multilayers. But understanding of the properties of these systems is far from being complete. In particular, it is not clear why various anomalies observed at phase transitions here are different from those in high quality bulk systems. The aim of the paper is to discuss some specific features of ferroelectric phase transitions in thin films and multilayers which are taken into account only partially by the theory. The discussion is limited to revealing the character of ferroelectric state forming just after the transition, i.e. if it is single-domain or multi-domain, if it is single-phase or two-phase. First, thin films with electrodes and on a substrate are discussed. The role of non-ideality of electrodes in realization of one of the first pairs of possibilities is emphasized. A more recent idea is that even for ideal electrodes a domain formation is possible when some conditions on the electrode–ferroelectric interface and the material constants of the material are met. This seems to be quite possible for the considered systems. Clamping by the substrate may lead to formation of a two-phase state which is practically unexplored for very thin films on substrates. Second, ferroelectric–paraelectric multilayers are considered which are more challenging for theoretical study than the thin films. Indeed, despite periodicity in the composition the domain structures are almost never periodic along the multilayer. The non-ideality of electrodes seems to lead to practical impossibility of single-domain ferroelectric phase transition in the multilayers of the considered type.     

Interaction of domain walls in thin magnetic films

Interactions of pairs of parallel Néel walls are investigated by means of Ritz's method calculations. In the case of the symmetric, thin-film mode of Néel walls, unwinding walls show an attractive and winding walls a repulsive interaction for all distances. The functional dependence of the interaction on the distance of the walls is strongly correlated with the wall profiles of the isolated walls with their characteristic extended tails. For the asymmetric Néel wall mode which occurs in thicker films, an additional repulsive interaction of the magnetization vortices in the wall core is found. This leads for unwinding walls to stable configurations of double walls with separations between two and three times the film thickness.     

Permissible domain walls in ferroelectric species

A previously developed method makes it possible to determine the orientations of domain walls in ferroelectrics which are permissible under the condition that neighbouring domains must be mechanically compatible. In this paper, the method has been applied to all 88 ferroelectric species in which the polarization is the parameter of the transition. Types of permissible walls and their orientations are listed in form of tables. Cases where no walls fulfil the compatibility conditions are shown.     

Effect of sample thickness on the mobility of domain walls in thin ferroelectric films of lead zirconate-titonate and lead titanate

Repolarization in ferroelectric films of lead zirconate-titanate Pb(Zi_0.5Ti_0.5)O₃ and lead titanate PbTiO₃ during continuous cyclic switching under the influence of an external field of rectangular form is investigated. The mobility of domain walls μ is calculated for different thicknesses of the studied films according to the experimental values of switching time τ_s.     

PZT铁电薄膜纳米尺度畴结构的扫描力显微术研究

利用扫描力显微术中压电响应模式原位研究了（111）择优取向的PZT60/40铁电薄膜的纳米尺度畴结构及其极化反转行为.铁电畴图像复杂的畴衬度与晶粒中的畴排列和晶粒的取向密切相关.直接观察到极化反转期间所形成的小至30nm宽的台阶结构，该台阶结构揭示了（111）取向的PZT60/40铁电薄膜在极化反转期间其畴成核与生长机理主要表现为铁电畴的纵向生长机理. 关键词： 畴结构 反转机理 PZT薄膜 扫描力显微术     

Phase transition properties of ferroelectric thin films with two surface layers

The phase diagrams of ferroelectric thin films with two surface layers described by the transverse Ising model have been studied under the mean-field approximation. We discuss the effects of the exchange interaction and transverse field parameters on the phase diagrams. The results indicate that the phase transition properties of the phase diagrams can be greatly modified by changing the transverse Ising model parameters. In addition, the crossover features of the parameters from the ferroelectric dominant phase diagram to the paraelectric dominant phase diagram are determined for ferroelectric thin films with two surface layers.     

Abrupt appearance of the domain pattern and fatigue of thin ferroelectric films

We study the domain structure in ferroelectric thin films with a "passive" (nonferroelectric) layer at the interface between the film and electrodes. An abrupt transition from a monodomain to a polydomain state has been found with the increase of the passive layer thickness d. The domain width changes very quickly at the transition (exponentially with d(-2)). The slope of the hysteresis loop is in agreement with experiment, assuming realistic parameters of the layer. The slope scales as 1/d, involving only the properties of the layer. We believe that specific properties of the domain structure in ferroelectrics with a passive layer can resolve the long-standing "paradox of the coercive field."     

Asymmetry in the dynamics of domain walls in thin exchange-coupled ferromagnetic films

The kinetics of remagnetization after magnetic field switching was studied by the magneto-optic visualization technique in the bilayer hybrid structure composed of exchange-coupled FeNi and FeMn films. It was observed that not only the static but the dynamic characteristics of remagnetization as well depend on the polarity of a field applied along the direction of easy magnetization. The rate of the process was found to be exponentially dependent on the field strength in both directions, but the rate varied by factors of 10 upon inversion of the field. It was shown that this difference is the consequence of variation of both the time of domains nucleation and the velocity of domain walls motion.     

Ferromagnetism in transition-metal-doped semiconducting oxide thin films

A rather complete work on transition-metal (TM)-doped TiO₂ thin films has been done and room ferromagnetism (FM) is found in the whole series of Sc/V/Cr/Mn/Fe/Co/Ni-doped TiO₂ films. Not only is it remarkable that for the first time, FM at high temperature was achieved in TM-doped TiO₂, but also a very big magnetic moment of 4.2μ_B/atom could be obtained, and direct evidences of real ferromagnets with big domains were shown as well. A similar chemical trend was achieved in TM-doped In₂O₃ films, however, the observed magnetic moment is rather modest, with the maximal value is of only 0.7μ_B/atom for Ni-doped In₂O₃ films. As regards TM-doped SnO₂ films, observed magnetic moments could be very large, with the maximum saturation of 6μ_B per impurity atom for Cr-doped SnO₂ thin films, but it could be influenced very much depending on substrate types. On the other hand, results on TM-doped ZnO films interestingly have revealed that in these systems, the magnetism more likely resulted from defects and/or oxygen vacancies.     

Periodical structure based on ferroelectric domain walls

The spectrum of specific states apearing in periodical structure based on ferroelectric domain walls is investigated by perturbation theorie method.     

Leakage currents in thin ferroelectric films

The basic mechanisms of leakage current components of thin lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ferroelectric films grown by the sol-gel method have been studied. Characteristic regions of current-voltage characteristics with different charge transport mechanisms have been determined. It has been shown that there is an intermediate region which separates such regions. In one of them, the leakage current depends on properties of the contact of electrodes with PZT film at low voltages; in the other, the leakage current is controlled by intrinsic properties of the PZT film bulk, and the basic mechanism of charge transport is Poole-Frenkel emission. In the intermediate region, a stepwise change in the current has been observed, which is caused by relaxing breakdown of the Schottky barrier. Time dependences of the leakage currents have been determined. It has been shown that the leakage current decreases with increasing delay time before the Schottky barrier breakdown, and the dependence becomes opposite in character after the breakdown.     

Leakage currents in ferroelectric thin films

The main mechanisms of leakage currents in thin lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ferroelectric films prepared by the sol–gel method are discussed. Four specific regions are determined in I–V dependencies. At very weak fields (10–20 kV/cm), the current falls with the voltage increase as a result of depolarization. In the low fields region (about 70–100 kV/cm), the leakage current decreases with the decrease of voltage ramp speed and its components are the ohmic and displacement currents. In the high fields region (≥130 kV/cm), the leakage current increases with the decrease of step voltage ramp in contrast to the previous case. Possible conductivity mechanisms are the Poole– Frenkel emission and hopping conduction. In the transition region between above-mentioned ones (from 80–90 to ～130 kV/cm), an abrupt unstable increase of current is observed caused by breakdown of reverse bias Schottky barrier. Depolarization currents are studied for sol–gel PZT films prepared at different preparation conditions.     

Experimental investigation of the magnetic structure of domain walls in thin ferromagnetic films

The structure of domain walls in thin magnetic films has been studied by the Lorentz method using electron microscopy. The possible existence of the coinciding and opposite directions of rotation of the magnetization vector in Néel domain walls has been proved experimentally. The domain walls separating 90° domains have been found in single-crystal magnetic films. These walls consist of domains with a considerably smaller area than 90° domains.     

Dynamical properties of thin ferromagnetic semiconducting films

A Green's function technique is used to investigate the temperature dependence of the spin-wave energies of ferromagnetic semiconducting thin films including the damping effects. It is shown that the frequencies of thin ferromagnetic films are smaller, whereas the damping effects are larger compared to the bulk.     

Conduction of topologically protected charged ferroelectric domain walls

We report on the observation of nanoscale conduction at ferroelectric domain walls in hexagonal HoMnO(3) protected by the topology of multiferroic vortices using in situ conductive atomic force microscopy, piezoresponse force microscopy, and Kelvin-probe force microscopy at low temperatures. In addition to previously observed Schottky-like rectification at low bias [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 217601 (2010)], conductance spectra reveal that negatively charged tail-to-tail walls exhibit enhanced conduction at high forward bias, while positively charged head-to-head walls exhibit suppressed conduction at high reverse bias. Our results pave the way for understanding the semiconducting properties of the domains and domain walls in small-gap ferroelectrics.     

Efficient photovoltaic current generation at ferroelectric domain walls

We elucidate the mechanism of a newly observed photovoltaic effect which occurs in ferroelectrics with periodic domain structures. Under sufficiently strong illumination, domain walls function as nanoscale generators of the photovoltaic current. The steps in the electrostatic potential function to accumulate electrons and holes on opposite sides of the walls while locally reducing the concentration of the oppositely charged carriers. As a result, the recombination rate adjacent to the walls is reduced, leading to a net diffusion current. In open circuit, photovoltages for periodically ordered domain walls are additive and voltages much larger than the band gap can be generated. The internal quantum efficiency for individual domain walls can be surprisingly high, approaching 10% for above band-gap photons. Although we have found the effect in BiFeO(3) films, it should occur in any system with a similar periodic potential.     

Nanoscale imaging of ferroelectric domain and resistance switching in hybrid improper ferroelectric Ca3Ti2O7 thin films

Hybrid improper ferroelectrics have their electric polarization generated by two or more combined non-ferroelectric structural distortions such as the rotation and tilting of Ti-O octahedral in Ca₃Ti₂O₇ (CTO) family. In this work, we prepared different thickness CTO thin films on Pt substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and investigated their ferroelectric polarization reversal and the current transport properties by using the piezoresponse force microscopy and conducting atomic force microscopy, respectively. It is found that the CTO films exhibit clear ferroelectric domain switching and ferroelectric resistance switching behaviors, and the maximum resistive ratios of CTO film reaches ∼1750. These results demonstrate that hybrid improper ferroelectrics CTO films are promising materials for being employed in non-volatile memory and logic devices.