Journal
ADVANCED MATERIALS
Volume 29, Issue 46, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201702375
Keywords
aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy; nanoscale bubble domains; Neel-Bloch domain walls; piezoresponse force microscopy; ultrathin ferroelectric films
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Funding
- Australian Research Council (ARC)
- Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-SC0014430]
- National Science Foundation (NSF) [DMR-1506535, DMR-1420620]
- National Basic Research Program of China [2015CB654900]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [51302132, 11474147]
- National Science Foundation (NSF) through Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) [DMR-1420645]
- Center for Nanoferroic Devices (CNFD), a Semiconductor Research Corporation Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (SRC-NRI) - NIST [2398.002]
- Center for Nanoferroic Devices (CNFD), a Semiconductor Research Corporation Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (SRC-NRI) - Nanoelectronics Research Corporation (NERC) [2398.002]
- DARPA Grant (under the MATRIX program) [HR0011-15-2-0038]
- University of Liege
- EU
- ARO grant [W911NF-16-1-0227]
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-SC0014430] Funding Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
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Observation of a new type of nanoscale ferroelectric domains, termed as bubble domains-laterally confined spheroids of sub-10 nm size with local dipoles self-aligned in a direction opposite to the macroscopic polarization of a surrounding ferroelectric matrix-is reported. The bubble domains appear in ultrathin epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3/SrTiO3/PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 ferroelectric sandwich structures due to the interplay between charge and lattice degrees of freedom. The existence of the bubble domains is revealed by high-resolution piezore-sponse force microscopy (PFM), and is corroborated by aberration-corrected atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy mapping of the polarization displacements. An incommensurate phase and symmetry breaking is found within these domains resulting in local polarization rotation and hence impart a mixed Neel-Bloch-like character to the bubble domain walls. PFM hysteresis loops for the bubble domains reveal that they undergo an irreversible phase transition to cylindrical domains under the electric field, accompanied by a transient rise in the electromechanical response. The observations are in agreement with ab-initio-based calculations, which reveal a very narrow window of electrical and elastic parameters that allow the existence of bubble domains. The findings highlight the richness of polar topologies possible in ultrathin ferroelectric structures and bring forward the prospect of emergent functionalities due to topological transitions.
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