Ferroelectric translational antiphase boundaries in nonpolar materials

Xian-Kui Wei, Alexander K. Tagantsev, Alexander Kvasov, Krystian Roleder, Chun-Lin Jia and Nava Setter ()
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Xian-Kui Wei: Ceramics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Alexander K. Tagantsev: Ceramics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Alexander Kvasov: Ceramics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Krystian Roleder: Institute of Physics, University of Silesia
Chun-Lin Jia: Peter Grünberg Institute and Ernst Ruska Center for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Research Center Jülich
Nava Setter: Ceramics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Ferroelectric materials are heavily used in electro-mechanics and electronics. Inside the ferroelectric, domain walls separate regions in which the spontaneous polarization is differently oriented. Properties of ferroelectric domain walls can differ from those of the domains themselves, leading to new exploitable phenomena. Even more exciting is that a non-ferroelectric material may have domain boundaries that are ferroelectric. Many materials possess translational antiphase boundaries. Such boundaries could be interesting entities to carry information if they were ferroelectric. Here we show first that antiphase boundaries in antiferroelectrics may possess ferroelectricity. We then identify these boundaries in the classical antiferroelectric lead zirconate and evidence their polarity by electron microscopy using negative spherical-aberration imaging technique. Ab initio modelling confirms the polar bi-stable nature of the walls. Ferroelectric antiphase boundaries could make high-density non-volatile memory; in comparison with the magnetic domain wall memory, they do not require current for operation and are an order of magnitude thinner.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4031

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