Observation of nanoscale 180° stripe domains in ferroelectric PbTiO3 thin films -: art. no. 067601

We report the observation of periodic 180degrees stripe domains below the ferroelectric transition in thin films. Epitaxial PbTiO3 films of thickness d=1.6 to 42 nm on SrTiO3 substrates were studied using x-ray scattering. Upon cooling below T-C, satellites appeared around Bragg peaks indicating the presence of 180degrees stripe domains of period Lambda=3.7 to 24 nm. The dependence of Lambda on d agrees well with theory including epitaxial strain effects, while the suppression of T-C for thinner films is significantly larger than that expected solely from stripe domains.