Theoretical investigations of epitaxial strain effects in ferroelectric oxide thin films and superlattices

Epitaxial strain in perovskite oxides has been shown to play an important role in determining the structure and properties of thin films and superlattices, especially properties related to polarization. In this short review, we describe theoretical investigations of the epitaxial strain effects in a variety of perovskite oxides, including ferroelectrics, with particular emphasis on first-principles methods, as well as Landau-Devonshire functionals and the phase-field approach. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.