Control of ferroelectric polarization in BiFeO3 bilayer films through interface engineering
Predetermining the as-grown polarization of ferroelectric thin films is essential to integrate their reliable properties into electronic devices. However, studies have so far focused mainly on the control of the polarization state of a single ferroelectric layer. Here we report a strategy for the artificial modulation of pristine polarization in BiFeO3 bilayer films. We have fabricated multilayers of BiFeO3/SrTiO3/BiFeO3 on single-crystalline SrTiO3 (001) substrates. It is found that the out-of-plane polarization components of the BiFeO3 bilayer can be controlled by modifying the surface terminations of SrTiO3 interlayer and SrTiO3 substrate. Using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, we directly visualize the head-to-head and tail-to-tail polarization configurations formed by the BiFeO3 bilayers. Polar discontinuity at the ferroelectric/non-ferroelectric interface is the reason for tuning the orientation of electrical polarization. Our work provides an effective route to design fascinating ferroelectric multilayers with well-defined polarization direction.
Authors
- Xiao-Kang Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8249-4216)
- Ning Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0320-8451)
- Kuijuan Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0047-4375)
- Lei Liao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1325-2410)
- Er‐Jia Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5702-225X)
- Lifen Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8468-5048)
- Xuedong Bai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1403-491X)
- Tao Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2764-5115)
- Chen Ge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8093-940X)
- Xinyan Wang
- Can Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4404-7957)
- Rui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6403-2652)
- Meng He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6704-3919)
- Guo-Zhen Yang
Institutions
- Liaoning University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN)
- Institute of Physics (CN)
- National Laboratory for Superconductivity (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Quantum Materials
- Published
- 2025-04-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-025-00763-6
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.52
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association