Domain tuning in mixed-phase BiFeO3 thin films using vicinal substrates

Abstract

The structural and ferroelectric domain variants of highly-strained BiFeO3 films grown on vicinal LaSrAlO4 substrates were studied by piezoelectric force microscopy and high-resolution X-ray reciprocal space mapping. Through symmetry breaking of the substrate surface, ferroelastic domain variants in the highly-strained MC phase BiFeO3 can be greatly reduced. Single-domain film can be obtained on substrates with large miscut angle, which is accompanied by the reduction of structural variants in the mixed-phase nanodomains. These findings lead to better understanding of the phase evolution and polarization rotation process in the strain-driven morphotropic phase system.

15 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (10)

• Effect of epitaxial strain on the spontaneous polarization of thin film ferroelectrics
• Stress-induced R-MA-MC-T symmetry changes in BiFeO3 films
• Low-Symmetry Monoclinic Phases and Polarization Rotation Path Mediated By Epitaxial Strain in Multiferroic BiFeO3 Thin Films
• Coexistence of Ferroelectric Triclinic Phases and Origin of Large Piezoelectric Responses in Highly Strained BiFeO3 films
• Multiferroic phase transition near room temperature in BiFeO3 films
• Nanoscale domains in strained epitaxial BiFeO3 thin Films on LaSrAlO4 Substrate
• Temperature and thickness evolution and epitaxial breakdown in highly-strained BiFeO3 thin films
• Phase transition close to room temperature in BiFeO3 thin films
• Temperature Driven Structural Phase Transition in Tetragonal-Like BiFeO3
• Step bunching-induced vertical lattice mismatch and crystallographic tilt in vicinal BiFeO3(001) films