985 research outputs found
Optimal configuration of microstructure in ferroelectric materials by stochastic optimization
An optimization procedure determining the ideal configuration at the
microstructural level of ferroelectric (FE) materials is applied to maximize
piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity in ceramic FEs differ significantly from
that of single crystals because of the presence of crystallites (grains)
possessing crystallographic axes aligned imperfectly. The piezoelectric
properties of a polycrystalline (ceramic) FE is inextricably related to the
grain orientation distribution (texture). The set of combination of variables,
known as solution space, which dictates the texture of a ceramic is unlimited
and hence the choice of the optimal solution which maximizes the
piezoelectricity is complicated. Thus a stochastic global optimization combined
with homogenization is employed for the identification of the optimal granular
configuration of the FE ceramic microstructure with optimum piezoelectric
properties. The macroscopic equilibrium piezoelectric properties of
polycrystalline FE is calculated using mathematical homogenization at each
iteration step. The configuration of grains characterised by its orientations
at each iteration is generated using a randomly selected set of orientation
distribution parameters. Apparent enhancement of piezoelectric coefficient
is observed in an optimally oriented BaTiO single crystal. A
configuration of crystallites, simultaneously constraining the orientation
distribution of the c-axis (polar axis) while incorporating ab-plane
randomness, which would multiply the overall piezoelectricity in ceramic
BaTiO is also identified. The orientation distribution of the c-axes is
found to be a narrow Gaussian distribution centred around . The
piezoelectric coefficient in such a ceramic is found to be nearly three times
as that of the single crystal.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
First-principles study of the electrooptic effect in ferroelectric oxides
We present a method to compute the electrooptic tensor from first principles,
explicitly taking into account the electronic, ionic and piezoelectric
contributions. It allows us to study the non-linear optic behavior of three
ferroelectric ABO_3 compounds : LiNbO_3, BaTiO_3 and PbTiO_3. Our calculations
reveal the dominant contribution of the soft mode to the electrooptic
coefficients in LiNbO_3 and BaTiO_3 and identify the coupling between the
electric field and the polar atomic displacements along the B-O chains as the
origin of the large electrooptic response in these compounds.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Low-temperature phase transformations of PZT in the morphotropic phase-boundary region
We present anelastic and dielectric spectroscopy measurements of
PbZr(1-x)Ti(x)O(3) with 0.455 < x < 0.53, which provide new information on the
low temperature phase transitions. The tetragonal-to-monoclinic transformation
is first-order for x < 0.48 and causes a softening of the polycrystal Young's
modulus whose amplitude may exceed the one at the cubic-to-tetragonal
transformation; this is explainable in terms of linear coupling between shear
strain components and tilting angle of polarization in the monoclinic phase.
The transition involving rotations of the octahedra below 200 K is visible both
in the dielectric and anelastic losses, and it extends within the tetragonal
phase, as predicted by recent first-principle calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Domain Size Dependence of Piezoelectric Properties of Ferroelectrics
The domain size dependence of piezoelectric properties of ferroelectrics is
investigated using a continuum Ginzburg-Landau model that incorporates the
long-range elastic and electrostatic interactions. Microstructures with desired
domain sizes are created by quenching from the paraelectric phase by biasing
the initial conditions. Three different two-dimensional microstructures with
different sizes of the domains are simulated. An electric field is
applied along the polar as well as non-polar directions and the piezoelectric
response is simulated as a function of domain size for both cases. The
simulations show that the piezoelectric coefficients are enhanced by reducing
the domain size, consistent with recent experimental results of Wada and
Tsurumi (Brit. Ceram. Trans. {\bf 103}, 93, 2004) on domain engineered
Comment: submitted to Physical Review
Room-temperature ferromagnetism in Sr_(1-x)Y_xCoO_(3-delta) (0.2 < x < 0.25)
We have measured magnetic susceptibility and resistivity of
SrYCoO ( 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.215, 0.225, 0.25, 0.3,
and 0.4), and have found that SrYCoO is a room
temperature ferromagnet with a Curie temperature of 335 K in a narrow
compositional range of 0.2 0.25. This is the highest transition
temperature among perovskite Co oxides. The saturation magnetization for
0.225 is 0.25 /Co at 10 K, which implies that the observed
ferromagnetism is a bulk effect. We attribute this ferromagnetism to a peculiar
Sr/Y ordering.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Constraints on Beta Functions from Duality
We analyze the way in which duality constrains the exact beta function and
correlation length in single-coupling spin systems. A consistency condition we
propose shows very concisely the relation between self-dual points and phase
transitions, and implies that the correlation length must be duality invariant.
These ideas are then tested on the 2-d Ising model, and used towards finding
the exact beta function of the -state Potts model. Finally, a generic
procedure is given for identifying a duality symmetry in other single-coupling
models with a continuous phase transition.Comment: LaTeX, 6 page
Double polarization hysteresis loop induced by the domain pinning by defect dipoles in HoMnO3 epitaxial thin films
We report on antiferroelectriclike double polarization hysteresis loops in
multiferroic HoMnO3 thin films below the ferroelectric Curie temperature. This
intriguing phenomenon is attributed to the domain pinning by defect dipoles
which were introduced unintentionally during film growth process. Electron
paramagnetic resonance suggests the existence of Fe1+ defects in thin films and
first principles calculations reveal that the defect dipoles would be composed
of oxygen vacancy and Fe1+ defect. We discuss migration of charged point
defects during film growth process and formation of defect dipoles along
ferroelectric polarization direction, based on the site preference of point
defects. Due to a high-temperature low-symmetry structure of HoMnO3, aging is
not required to form the defect dipoles in contrast to other ferroelectrics
(e.g., BaTiO3).Comment: 4 figure
Polarity control of carrier injection at ferroelectric/metal interfaces for electrically switchable diode and photovoltaic effects
We investigated a switchable ferroelectric diode effect and its physical
mechanism in Pt/BiFeO3/SrRuO3 thin-film capacitors. Our results of electrical
measurements support that, near the Pt/BiFeO3 interface of as-grown samples, a
defective layer (possibly, an oxygen-vacancy-rich layer) becomes formed and
disturbs carrier injection. We therefore used an electrical training process to
obtain ferroelectric control of the diode polarity where, by changing the
polarization direction using an external bias, we could switch the transport
characteristics between forward and reverse diodes. Our system is characterized
with a rectangular polarization hysteresis loop, with which we confirmed that
the diode polarity switching occurred at the ferroelectric coercive voltage.
Moreover, we observed a simultaneous switching of the diode polarity and the
associated photovoltaic response dependent on the ferroelectric domain
configurations. Our detailed study suggests that the polarization charge can
affect the Schottky barrier at the ferroelectric/metal interfaces, resulting in
a modulation of the interfacial carrier injection. The amount of
polarization-modulated carrier injection can affect the transition voltage
value at which a space-charge-limited bulk current-voltage (J-V) behavior is
changed from Ohmic (i.e., J ~ V) to nonlinear (i.e., J ~ V^n with n \geq 2).
This combination of bulk conduction and polarization-modulated carrier
injection explains the detailed physical mechanism underlying the switchable
diode effect in ferroelectric capacitors.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Ferroelectric Phase Transitions in Three-Component Short-Period Superlattices Studied by Ultraviolet Raman Spectroscopy
Vibrational spectra of three-component BaTiO3SrTiO3CaTiO3 short-period superlattices grown by pulsed laser deposition with atomic-layer control have been investigated by ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy. Monitoring the intensity of the first-order phonon peaks in Raman spectra as a function of temperature allowed determination of the ferroelectric phase transition temperature, Tc. Raman spectra indicate that all superlattices remain in the tetragonal ferroelectric phase with out-of-plane polarization in the entire temperature range below Tc. The dependence of Tc on the relative thicknesses of ferroelectric (BaTiO3) to non-ferroelectric materials (SrTiO3 and CaTiO3) has been studied. The highest Tc was found in superlattices having the largest relative amount of BaTiO3, provided that the superlattice maintains its coherency with the substrate. Strain relaxation leads to a significant decrease in the ferroelectric phase transition temperature
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