Phase diagram of ferroelectric nanowires and its mechanical force controllability

A phenomenological thermodynamic model of ferroelectric nanowires is developed to investigate the size-temperature phase diagrams. Considering existence of the surface tension, size, and external applied stress effects, the approximated expressions of the transition temperatures at which the paraelectric phase loses its stability with respect to the appearance of the spontaneous polarization are derived. At the same time, the size-temperature phase diagrams as functions of the ferroelectric nanowire radius are obtained, and also show its external mechanical stress controllability. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3446854]