P. Marton

The piezoelectric response of nanotwinned BaTiO3.

The piezoelectric properties of tetragonal BaTiO(3) crystals with a very high density of 90 degrees twin domain boundaries are analyzed in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire theory. Computer simulations predict a considerable enhancement of piezoelectric coefficients for domain thicknesses below 50 nm. This enhancement is much larger than the effect of the domain wall broadening mechanism of Rao and Wang (2007 Appl. Phys. Lett. 90 041915), but it is still a too weak effect to explain the domain density enhancement observed in the experiments of Wada and Tsurumi (2004 Br. Ceram. Trans. 103 93). The phenomenon observed here should nevertheless manifest in materials with nanoscopic domains, such as relaxor ferroelectrics and artificial ferroelectric nanostructures.

Stress-induced phase transition in ferroelectric domain walls of BaTiO3.

The seminal paper by Zhirnov (1958 Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 35 1175-80) explained why the structure of domain walls in ferroelectrics and ferromagnets is drastically different. Here we show that the antiparallel ferroelectric walls in rhombohedral ferroelectric BaTiO(3) can be switched between the Ising-like state (typical for ferroelectrics) and a Bloch-like state (unusual for ferroelectric walls but typical for magnetic ones). Phase-field simulations using a Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire model suggest that this symmetry-breaking transition can be induced by a compressive epitaxial stress. The strain-tunable chiral properties of these domain walls promise a range of novel phenomena in epitaxial ferroelectric thin films.

Bloch-type domain walls in rhombohedral BaTiO3

Ferroelectric domain walls (FDWs) are usually considered to be of Ising type, but there have been suggestions in recent years that Bloch-type FDWs are also possible in some cases, e.g., in the rhombohedral phase of BaTiO

Anisotropic elasticity of DyScO3 substrates

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Phase–field modelling of 180° “Bloch walls” in rhombohedral BaTiO3

. The mechanically compatible and electrically neutral FDWs in rhombohedral BaTiO

Divergence of dielectric permittivity near phase transition within ferroelectric domain boundaries

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Phonon frequencies of tetragonally strained PbTiO3 from first principles

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Discretisation originated Peierls–Nabarro barriers in simulations of ferroelectrics

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Peculiar domain states of cylindrical BaTiO3 nanorods embedded in SrTiO3 matrix

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Simulation of domain patterns in BaTiO3

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