Strain dependence of polarization and piezoelectric response in epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films

Epitaxial strain has recently emerged as a powerful means to engineer the properties of ferroelectric thin films, for instance to enhance the ferroelectric Curie temperature (TC) in BaTiO3. However, in multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films an unanticipated strain-driven decrease of TC was reported and ascribed to the peculiar competition between polar and antiferrodistortive instabilities. Here, we report a systematic characterization of the room-temperature ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties for strain levels ranging between −2.5% and +1%. We find that polarization and the piezoelectric coefficient increase by about 20% and 250%, respectively, in this strain range. These trends are well reproduced by first-principles-based techniques.

[1]  P Balling,et al.  Femtosecond-laser ablation dynamics of dielectrics: basics and applications for thin films , 2013, Reports on progress in physics. Physical Society.

[2]  Jin Hong Lee,et al.  Concurrent transition of ferroelectric and magnetic ordering near room temperature. , 2011, Nature communications.

[3]  S. Fusil,et al.  Multiferroic phase transition near room temperature in BiFeO3 films. , 2011, Physical review letters.

[4]  Long-qing Chen,et al.  Strong strain dependence of ferroelectric coercivity in a BiFeO3 film , 2011 .

[5]  M. Azuma,et al.  Enhanced Piezoelectric Constant of (1-x)BiFeO3–xBiCoO3 Thin Films Grown on LaAlO3 Substrate , 2011 .

[6]  M. Bibes,et al.  Ultrathin oxide films and interfaces for electronics and spintronics , 2011 .

[7]  H. Funakubo,et al.  Electronic, Structural, and Piezoelectric Properties of BiFe1-xCoxO3 , 2010 .

[8]  S. Fusil,et al.  Bridging multiferroic phase transitions by epitaxial strain in BiFeO3. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[9]  S. Fusil,et al.  Optical properties of integrated multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films for microwave applications , 2010 .

[10]  M. Bibes,et al.  Competing phases in BiFeO 3 thin films under compressive epitaxial strain , 2010 .

[11]  J. Íñiguez,et al.  Ab Initio indications for giant magnetoelectric effects driven by structural softness. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[12]  Wei Ren,et al.  Ferromagnetism in multiferroic BiFeO 3 films: A first-principles-based study , 2010 .

[13]  B. Dkhil,et al.  Evidence for a first-order transition from monoclinic α to monoclinic β phase in BiFeO 3 thin films , 2010 .

[14]  G. Wingqvist,et al.  Origin of the anomalous piezoelectric response in wurtzite Sc(x)Al(1-x)N alloys. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[15]  N. Spaldin,et al.  Strain-induced isosymmetric phase transition in BiFeO 3 , 2009, 0909.4979.

[16]  R. Ramesh,et al.  Photovoltaic effects in BiFeO3 , 2009 .

[17]  L. Bellaiche,et al.  Electric-field-induced paths in multiferroic BiFeO3 from atomistic simulations. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[18]  James F. Scott,et al.  Physics and Applications of Bismuth Ferrite , 2009 .

[19]  Karen Willcox,et al.  Kinetics and kinematics for translational motions in microgravity during parabolic flight. , 2009, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[20]  V. Cros,et al.  Evidence for room-temperature multiferroicity in a compound with a giant axial ratio. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[21]  Manuel Bibes,et al.  Spintronics with multiferroics , 2008 .

[22]  C. M. Folkman,et al.  Strain-induced polarization rotation in epitaxial (001) BiFeO3 thin films. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[23]  K. Bouzehouane,et al.  Thickness-dependent structural and electrical properties of multiferroic Mn-doped BiFeO3 thin films grown epitaxially by pulsed laser deposition , 2008 .

[24]  Q. Jia,et al.  Strain effect on coercive field of epitaxial barium titanate thin films , 2008 .

[25]  M. Viret,et al.  Electric-field-induced spin flop in BiFeO3 single crystals at room temperature. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[26]  Amit Kumar,et al.  Linear and Nonlinear Optical constants of BiFeO_3 , 2008, 0801.1626.

[27]  I. Kornev,et al.  Finite-temperature properties of multiferroic BiFeO3. , 2007, Physical review letters.

[28]  H. Christen,et al.  Effect of epitaxial strain on ferroelectric polarization in multiferroic BiFeO3 films , 2007, 0710.5208.

[29]  M. Viret,et al.  Very large spontaneous electric polarization in BiFeO3 single crystals at room temperature and its evolution under cycling fields , 2007, 0706.1681.

[30]  Long-Qing Chen,et al.  Nanoscale Domain Control in Multiferroic BiFeO3 Thin Films , 2006 .

[31]  T. Zhao,et al.  Electrical control of antiferromagnetic domains in multiferroic BiFeO3 films at room temperature , 2006, Nature materials.

[32]  N. Mathur,et al.  Multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials , 2006, Nature.

[33]  H. Ishiwara,et al.  Room temperature ferroelectric properties of Mn-substituted BiFeO3 thin films deposited on Pt electrodes using chemical solution deposition , 2006 .

[34]  N. Spaldin,et al.  Effect of epitaxial strain on the spontaneous polarization of thin film ferroelectrics. , 2005, Physical review letters.

[35]  M. Bibes,et al.  Influence of parasitic phases on the properties of BiFeO3 epitaxial thin films , 2005, cond-mat/0504631.

[36]  Bo-Kuai Lai,et al.  Phase diagrams of epitaxial BaTiO3 ultrathin films from first principles , 2005 .

[37]  Astronomy,et al.  Systematic treatment of displacements, strains, and electric fields in density-functional perturbation theory , 2005, cond-mat/0501548.

[38]  V. Gopalan,et al.  Enhancement of Ferroelectricity in Strained BaTiO3 Thin Films , 2004, Science.

[39]  Junling Wang,et al.  Dramatically enhanced polarization in (001), (101), and (111) BiFeO3 thin films due to epitiaxial-induced transitions , 2004 .

[40]  R. Ramesh,et al.  Epitaxial BiFeO3 Multiferroic Thin Film Heterostructures , 2003, Science.

[41]  D. Vanderbilt,et al.  Low-Temperature Properties of Pb(Zr 1− x Ti x )O 3 Solid Solutions near the Morphotropic Phase Boundary , 2002 .

[42]  G. Kresse,et al.  From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method , 1999 .

[43]  C. Humphreys,et al.  Electron-energy-loss spectra and the structural stability of nickel oxide: An LSDA+U study , 1998 .

[44]  Kresse,et al.  Efficient iterative schemes for ab initio total-energy calculations using a plane-wave basis set. , 1996, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[45]  Blöchl,et al.  Projector augmented-wave method. , 1994, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[46]  H. Monkhorst,et al.  SPECIAL POINTS FOR BRILLOUIN-ZONE INTEGRATIONS , 1976 .

[47]  Robert Gerson,et al.  Dielectric hysteresis in single crystal BiFeO3 , 1970 .

[48]  R. Landauer.  Electrostatic Considerations in BaTiO3 Domain Formation during Polarization Reversal , 1957 .