Interface effects in ferroelectric PbTiO${}_3$ ultrathin films on a paraelectric substrate

Abstract

Interface effects on the ferroelectric behavior of PbTiO${}_3$ ultrathin films deposited on SrTiO${}_3$ substrate are investigated using an interatomic potential approach with parameters fitted to first-principles calculations. We find that the correlation of atomic displacements across the film/substrate interface is crucial for the stabilization of the ferroelectric state in films a few unit-cells thick. We show that the minimum film thickness for the appearance of a spontaneous polarized domain state is not an intrinsic property of the ferroelectric film but depends on the polarizability of the paraelectric substrate. We also observe that the substrate displays an induced polarization with an unusual oscillatory behavior.

arXiv comment4 pages

References in corpus (7)

• Physics of thin-film ferroelectric oxides
• Ultrathin films of ferroelectric solid solutions under residual depolarizing field
• Unusual behaviour of the ferroelectric polarization in PbTiO${}_3$/SrTiO${}_3$ superlattices
• Theory of PbTiO3, BaTiO3, and SrTiO3 Surfaces
• Direct evidence for ferroelectric polar distortion in ultrathin lead titanate perovskite films
• Ferroelectricity in Pb(Zr${}_{0.5}$Ti${}_{0.5}$)O${}_3$ thin films: critical thickness and 180${}^{\circ }$ stripe domains
• Surface reconstruction and ferroelectricity in PbTiO${}_3$ thin films

Cited by in corpus (8)

• The polarizability model for ferroelectricity in perovskite oxides
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• Toroidal ferroelectricity in PbTiO3 nanoparticles
• Wannier-based definition of layer polarizations in perovskite superlattices
• Polar morphologies from first principles: PbTiO${}_3$ films on SrTiO${}_3$ substrates and the $p(2\times \Lambda )$ surface reconstruction
• Temperature-driven phase transitions in SrBi${}_2$Ta${}_2$O${}_9$ from first-principles calculations
• Ferroelectric-HfO2/Oxide Interfaces, Oxygen Distribution Effect and Implications for Device Performance
• Strain-gradient-induced switching of nanoscale domains in free-standing ultrathin films