Infrared nano-spectroscopy of ferroelastic domain walls in hybrid improper ferroelectric Ca${}_3$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$

Abstract

Ferroic materials are well known to exhibit heterogeneity in the form of domain walls. Understanding the properties of these boundaries is crucial for controlling functionality with external stimuli and for realizing their potential for ultra-low power memory and logic devices as well as novel computing architectures. In this work, we employ synchrotron-based near-field infrared nano-spectroscopy to reveal the vibrational properties of ferroelastic (90${}^{\circ }$ ferroelectric) domain walls in the hybrid improper ferroelectric Ca${}_3$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$. By locally mapping the Ti-O stretching and Ti-O-Ti bending modes, we reveal how structural order parameters rotate across a wall. Thus, we link observed near-field amplitude changes to underlying structural modulations and test ferroelectric switching models against real space measurements of local structure. This initiative opens the door to broadband infrared nano-imaging of heterogeneity in ferroics.

References in corpus (2)

• Experimental demonstration of hybrid improper ferroelectricity and presence of abundant charged walls in (Ca,Sr)${}_3$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$ crystals
• A phononic switch based on ferroelectric domain walls

Cited by in corpus (4)

• From first- to second-order phase transitions in hybrid improper ferroelectrics through entropy stabilisation
• Photoinduced phase switching at a Mott insulator-to-metal transition
• Breaking symmetry to create a parallel-plate varactor dielectric with unparalleled microwave performance
• Charge disproportionation as a possible mechanism towards polar antiferromagnetic metal in molecular orbital crystal