The piezoelectric response of nanotwinned BaTiO3

The piezoelectric properties of tetragonal BaTiO3 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.