Ideal antiferroelectricity with large digital electrostrain in PbZrO3 epitaxial thin films

Yangyang Si, Ningbo Fan, Yongqi Dong, Zhen Ye, Shiqing Deng, Yijie Li, Chao Zhou, Qibin Zeng, Lu You, Yimei Zhu, Zhenlin Luo, Sujit Das, Laurent Bellaiche, Bin Xu (), Huajun Liu () and Zuhuang Chen ()
Additional contact information
Yangyang Si: Harbin Institute of Technology
Ningbo Fan: Soochow University
Yongqi Dong: University of Science and Technology of China
Zhen Ye: Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Shiqing Deng: University of Science and Technology Beijing
Yijie Li: Harbin Institute of Technology
Chao Zhou: Harbin Institute of Technology
Qibin Zeng: Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Lu You: Soochow University
Yimei Zhu: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Zhenlin Luo: University of Science and Technology of China
Sujit Das: Indian Institute of Science
Laurent Bellaiche: University of Arkansas
Bin Xu: Soochow University
Huajun Liu: Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Zuhuang Chen: Harbin Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Antiferroelectrics exhibit reversible antipolar-polar phase transitions under electric fields, yielding large electrostrain suitable for electromechanical devices. Nevertheless, in thin-film form, the antiferroelectric behavior is often obscured by competing ferroic orders, resulting in slanted hysteresis loops with undesired remnant polarization, subsequently posing challenges in obtaining ideal antiferroelectricity and understanding their intrinsic electrical behavior. Here, atomistic models for controllable antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition pathways are unveiled along specific crystallographic directions. Guided by the anisotropic phase transition and orientation design, we achieved ideal antiferroelectricity with square double hysteresis loop, large saturated polarization (~60 μC/cm2), near-zero remnant polarization, fast response time (~75 ns), and near-fatigue-free performance (~1010 cycles) in (111)P-oriented PbZrO3 epitaxial thin films. Moreover, a bipolar and frequency-independent digital electrostrain (~0.83%) was demonstrated in this architype antiferroelectric system. In-situ X-ray diffraction studies further reveal that the large digital electrostrain results from an intrinsic field-induced antiferroelectric-ferroelectric structural transition. This work demonstrates the anisotropic phase transition mechanism and ideal antiferroelectricity with large digital electrostrain in antiferroelectric thin films, offering a new avenue for applications of antiferroelectricity in nanoelectromechanical systems.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59598-1

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