Mapping the complex evolution of ferroelastic/ferroelectric domain patterns in epitaxially strained PbTiO3 heterostructures

We study the complex ferroelastic/ferroelectric domain structure in the prototypical ferroelectric PbTiO3 epitaxially strained on (110)o-oriented DyScO3 substrates, using a combination of atomic force microscopy, laboratory and synchrotron x-ray diffraction and high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. We observe that the anisotropic strain imposed by the orthorhombic substrate creates a large asymmetry in the domain configuration, with domain walls macroscopically aligned along one of the two in-plane directions. We show that the periodicity as a function of film thickness deviates from the Kittel law. As the ferroelectric film thickness increases, we find that the domain configuration evolves from flux-closure to a/c-phase, with a larger scale arrangement of domains into superdomains.

Organizational unit

Triscone Group

Type

Dataset

DOI

10.26037/yareta:7eof5tfyjrdpblws5vsqrvf3ny

Type

Dataset

Referenced by the following DOI

• 10.1063/5.0154161

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Keywords

Ferroelectric epitaxial thin films, Ferroelectric and ferroelastic domains, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, Nanodiffraction