3,676 research outputs found
Ideal barriers to polarization reversal and domain-wall motion in strained ferroelectric thin films
The ideal intrinsic barriers to domain switching in c-phase PbTiO_3 (PTO),
PbZrO_3 (PZO), and PbZr_{1-x}Ti_xO_3 (PZT) are investigated via
first-principles computational methods. The effects of epitaxial strain on the
atomic structure, ferroelectric response, barrier to coherent domain reversal,
domain-wall energy, and barrier to domain-wall translation are studied. It is
found that PTO has a larger polarization, but smaller energy barrier to domain
reversal, than PZO. Consequentially the idealized coercive field is over two
times smaller in PTO than PZO. The Ti--O bond length is more sensitive to
strain than the other bonds in the crystals. This results in the polarization
and domain-wall energy in PTO having greater sensitivity to strain than in PZO.
Two ordered phases of PZT are considered, the rock-salt structure and a (100)
PTO/PZO superlattice. In these simple structures we find that the ferroelectric
properties do not obey Vergard's law, but instead can be approximated as an
average over individual 5-atom unit cells.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure
Relative phase stability and lattice dynamics of NaNbO from first-principles calculations
We report total energy calculations for different crystal structures of
NaNbO over a range of unit cell volumes using the all-electron
full-potential (L)APW method. We employed both the local-density approximation
(LDA) and the Wu-Cohen form of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA-WC)
to test the accuracy of these functionals for the description of the complex
structural behavior of NaNbO. We found that LDA not only underestimates the
equilibrium volume of the system but also predicts an incorrect ground state
for this oxide. The GGA-WC functional, on the other hand, significantly
improves the equilibrium volume and provides relative phase stability in better
agreement with experiments. We then use the GGA-WC functional for the
calculation of the phonon dispersion curves of cubic NaNbO to identify the
presence of structural instabilities in the whole Brillouin zone. Finally, we
report comparative calculations of structural instabilities as a function of
volume in NaNbO and KNbO to provide insights for the understanding of
the structural behavior of KNaNbO solid solutions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Multiferroic BiFeO3-BiMnO3 Nanocheckerboard From First Principles
We present a first principles study of an unusual heterostructure, an
atomic-scale checkerboard of BiFeO3-BiMnO3, and compare its properties to the
two bulk constituent materials, BiFeO3 and BiMnO3. The "nanocheckerboard" is
found to have a multiferroic ground state with the desired properties of each
constituent: polar and ferrimagnetic due to BiFeO3 and BiMnO3, respectively.
The effect of B-site cation ordering on magnetic ordering in the BiFeO3-BiMnO3
system is studied. The checkerboard geometry is seen to give rise to a a novel
magnetostructural effect that is neither present in the bulk constituent
materials, nor in the layered BiFeO3-BiMnO3 superlattice.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure
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