Ferroelectric, Ferroelastic and Multiferroic Domain Walls: a New Horizon in Nanoscale Functional Materials
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Earth Sciences
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Kustov S
(2020)
Domain Dynamics in Quantum-Paraelectric SrTiO3
Kustov S
(2020)
Domain Dynamics in Quantum-Paraelectric SrTiO_{3}.
in Physical review letters
Salje EKH
(2023)
Dynamic domain boundaries: chemical dopants carried by moving twin walls.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Pesquera D
(2019)
Elastic anomalies associated with domain switching in BaTiO3 single crystals under in situ electrical cycling
in APL Materials
Cordero F
(2023)
Elastic precursor effects during Ba 1 - x Sr x TiO 3 ferroelastic phase transitions
in Physical Review Research
He X
(2023)
Elastic softening and hardening at intersections between twin walls and surfaces in ferroelastic materials
in APL Materials
Casals B
(2019)
Electric-field-induced avalanches and glassiness of mobile ferroelastic twin domains in cryogenic SrTi O 3
in Physical Review Research
Lu G
(2019)
Electrically driven ferroelastic domain walls, domain wall interactions, and moving needle domains
in Physical Review Materials
Weber M
(2022)
Emerging spin-phonon coupling through cross-talk of two magnetic sublattices
in Nature Communications
Casals B
(2021)
Energy exponents of avalanches and Hausdorff dimensions of collapse patterns.
in Physical review. E
Lu G
(2020)
Enhanced piezoelectricity in twinned ferroelastics with nanocavities
in Physical Review Materials
Yokota H
(2020)
Enhancement of polar nature of domain boundaries in ferroelastic Pb3(PO4)2 by doping divalent-metal ions.
in Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal
Barrett N
(2018)
Evidence for a surface anomaly during the cubic-tetragonal phase transition in BaTiO3(001)
in Applied Physics Letters
Description | We have identified unique combinations of microstructures in crystals which undergo phase transitions - with a focus on vortices and twin walls in materials including BaTiO3, ferroelectric tungsten bronzes, multiferroic orthorhombic perovskites, pnictide superconductors. This work has expanded greatly in terms of the range of domain wall materials that we have investigated successfully, and in terms of our successful collaborations with other members of the network group. More specifically, domain wall switching and the internal wall structure has been shown to divide into two categories: wild and mild. Wild switching results in highly correlated movements with power law statistics. This means that this switching is scale invariant in time and space and hence allows for high frequency applications in mobile phones etc. Mild switching is thermally activated and dominates in the deformation of wires, bio-mineralisation and some medical applications. Here the choice of the optimal frequency in key and applications rely not only on the amplitude of the switching process but also on the time span and hence the frequency of the pertubation. Ferroelectric switching, such as in BaTiO3, was shown to be history dependent and the nature of the morphotropic boundary in the commonly used material PZT was identified. It consists of highly correlated clusters of ferroelectric domains which act as units rather than splitting into individual domain walls. The same effect was found in cryogenic SrTiO3 near the quantum critical point where all domain movements become fully coherent. These effects dominate the mechanical properties (like the elasticity) of the material and generate piezoelectricity in nominally cubic materials. In theory, we have clarified wall-wall interactions in the bulk and in thin films, the interaction between domain boundaries with surfaces and the role of percolation in domain wall movements. We predicted weak magnetic signals when moving ferroelastic wall even without any magnetic atoms in the bulk. We identified the mixing properties of movements of different origin (like twin walls, dislocations, atomic defect displacements etc) during acoustic emission experiment which enlarges the way such techniques can now be used. |
Exploitation Route | We are expecting that the scientific progress we have made with respect to understanding the structure, dynamics and properties of domain walls will be of significant assistance to the electronics industry involved in the development of new nanoscale devices. Our work has been on fundamental aspects of the ways in which domain walls arising at phase transitions evolve, interact with each other and interact with strain fields. It forms the basis for ongoing research focussed more specifically on "Materials for neuromorphic circuits", a Marie-Curie network funded by the EU. |
Sectors | Electronics |