Domain control in mulfiferroic BiFeO3 through substrate vicinality

Control over ferroelectric polarization variants in BiFeO3 films through the use of various vicinal SrTiO3 substrates is demonstrated. The revolution of domain formation as a function of vicinality is characterized, and the ferroelectric polarization variants in these films and the corresponding structural variants are carefully analyzed. The piezo/ferroelectric properties of the BiFeO3 films, in turn, can be tailored through this approach.