Giant polarization in super-tetragonal thin films through interphase strain

Linxing Zhang, Jun Chen*, Longlong Fan, Oswaldo Diéguez, Jiangli Cao, Zhao Pan, Yilin Wang, Jinguo Wang, Moon Kim, Shiqing Deng, Jiaou Wang, Huanhua Wang, Jinxia Deng, Ranbo Yu, James F. Scott, Xianran Xing

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

202 Scopus citations

Abstract

Strain engineering has emerged as a powerful tool to enhance the performance of known functional materials. Here we demonstrate a general and practical method to obtain super-tetragonality and giant polarization using interphase strain. We use this method to create an out-of-plane–to–in-plane lattice parameter ratio of 1.238 in epitaxial composite thin films of tetragonal lead titanate (PbTiO3), compared to 1.065 in bulk. These thin films with super-tetragonal structure possess a giant remanent polarization, 236.3 microcoulombs per square centimeter, which is almost twice the value of known ferroelectrics. The super-tetragonal phase is stable up to 725°C, compared to the bulk transition temperature of 490°C. The interphase-strain approach could enhance the physical properties of other functional materials.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)494-497
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume361
Issue number6401
DOIs
StatePublished - 3 Aug 2018

Funding

FundersFunder number
University of Science and Technology Beijing

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Giant polarization in super-tetragonal thin films through interphase strain'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this