A Roadmap for Ferroelectric–Antiferroelectric Phase Transition
Antiferroelectric materials have shown great potential in electronic devices benefiting from the reversible phase transition between ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases. Understanding the dipole arrangements and clear phase transition pathways is crucial for design of antiferroelectric materials-based energy storage and conversion devices. However, the specific phase transition details remain largely unclear and even controversial to date. Here, we have grown a series of PbZrO<sub>3</sub> on SrTiO<sub>3</sub> substrates and elucidated the fine atom structures and phase transition pathways using atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Specifically, a roadmap for ferroelectric to antiferroelectric phase transitions, here with increasing film thickness, is determined as ferroelectric rhombohedral (<i>R</i>3<i>c</i>)-ferroelectric monoclinic (<i>Pc</i>)-ferrielectric orthorhombic (<i>Ima</i>2)-antiferroelectric orthorhombic (<i>Pbam</i>), where <i>Pc</i> and <i>Ima</i>2 phases act as structural bridges. Moreover, the phase transition pathway is strongly related to the synergistic effect of oxygen octahedral tilting and cation displacement. These findings provide an insightful understanding for the theories and related properties of antiferroelectrics.
Authors
- Yun‐Long Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6555-3296)
- Yin‐Lian Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0356-3306)
- Feng‐Hui Gong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0853-0992)
- Rujian Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2366-307X)
- Yanpeng Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1058-4719)
- Xiaodong Lv (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5213-9843)
- Mei‐Xiong Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3015-6308)
- Shuang-Jie Chen
- Changji Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2768-1224)
- Xiuliang Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7143-2044)
- Jinghui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2661-7239)
- Yujia Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8434-4801)
- Suzhen Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6581-4011)
Institutions
- Hunan University of Science and Technology (CN)
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN)
- Institute of Physics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nano Letters
- Published
- 2024-09-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03382
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.29
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province
- Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science