Letter abstract
Nature Materials 3, 87 - 90 (2004)
doi:10.1038/nmat1057
Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Semiconductors
Impact of misfit dislocations on the polarization instability of epitaxial nanostructured ferroelectric perovskites
Ming-Wen Chu1, Izabela Szafraniak1,2, Roland Scholz1, Catalin Harnagea1,3, Dietrich Hesse1, Marin Alexe1 and Ulrich Gösele1
Defects exist in almost all materials1 and defect engineering at the atomic level is part of modern semiconductor technology2, 3. Defects and their long-range strain fields can have a negative impact on the host materials4, 5. In materials with confined dimensions, the influence of defects can be even more pronounced due to the enhanced relative volume of the 'defective' regions. Here we report the dislocation-induced polarization instability of (001)-oriented Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) nanoislands, with an average height of 
9 nm, grown on compressive perovskite substrates. Using quantitative high-resolution electron microscopy4, we visualize the strain fields of edge-type misfit dislocations, extending predominantly into a PZT region with a height of 4 nm and width of 8 nm. The lattice within this region deviates from the regular crystal structure. Piezoresponse force microscopy indicates that such PZT nanoislands do not show ferroelectricity. Our results suggest that misfit engineering is indispensable for obtaining nanostructured ferroelectrics with stable polarization.
- Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
- Present address: Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, M. Sklodowska Curie 5 Sq., 60-965 Poznan, Poland
- Present address: INRS — Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, 1650 Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec J3X 1S2, Canada
Correspondence to: Ming-Wen Chu1 e-mail: cmingwen@mpi-halle.mpg.de
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