Double hysteresis loops in proper uniaxial ferroelectrics

Abstract

For the first time in a bulk proper uniaxial ferroelectrics, double antiferroelectric-like hysteresis loops have been observed in the case of Sn${}_2$P${}_2$S${}_6$ crystal. The quantum anharmonic oscillator model was proposed for description of such polarization switching process. This phenomenon is related to three-well local potential of spontaneous polarization fluctuations at peculiar negative ratio of coupling constants which correspond to inter-site interaction in given sublattice and interaction between two sublattices of Sn${}_2$P${}_2$S${}_6$ modeled crystal structure. Obtained data can be used for development of triple-level cell type memory technology.