Ferroelectrics and multiferroics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recently, negative pressure has been observed in perovskite nanowires by annealing the wires from a lower-density phase. Here, the authors show that the negative pressure enhances the piezoelectric coefficient of PbTiO3 and Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 nanowires experimentally and by ab initiocalculations.

    • Alexander Kvasov
    • , Leo J. McGilly
    •  & Nava Setter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conducting charged ferroelectric domain walls, as potential building blocks for future electronic devices, are unstable and uncommon in ferroelectric materials. Here, Tselev et al. show that neutral insulating domain walls in PbZrO3 and BiFeO3thin films are conductive under microwave excitation, allowing for non-destructive read-out.

    • Alexander Tselev
    • , Pu Yu
    •  & Petro Maksymovych

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Charged ferroelectric domain walls show promise for two-dimensional conduction, but their abundance within (Ca,Sr)3Ti2O7 crystals is poorly understood. Here, Huang et al. discover topology related domain structures in such materials, which reveal the rich nature of hybrid improper ferroelectricity.

    • F. -T. Huang
    • , F. Xue
    •  & S. -W. Cheong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelectric organic materials can be used for tunnel barriers in memory devices as a cheaper and eco-friendly replacement of their inorganic counterparts. Here, Tian et al. use poly(vinylidene fluoride) with 1–2 layer thickness to achieve giant tunnel electroresistance of 1,000% at room temperature.

    • B. B. Tian
    • , J. L. Wang
    •  & J. H. Chu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Relaxor ferroelectrics possess potential microwave frequency applications due to characteristic dielectric relaxation properties however the underlying mechanism is debated. Here, the authors use first-principles-based molecular dynamic simulations to understand such behaviour in Ba(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3.

    • D. Wang
    • , A. A. Bokov
    •  & L. Bellaiche

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelectricity, spontaneous switchable polarization, is usually deemed incompatible with the electronic screening of a metal. Here, the authors use ab initio theory to predict that metallicity natively coexists with ferroelectric polarization and finite depolarizing fields in the perovskite Bi5Ti5O17.

    • Alessio Filippetti
    • , Vincenzo Fiorentini
    •  & Jorge Íñiguez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crystalline materials are formed by the periodic order of atomic unit cells. Here, Pierangeli et al. report the formation of a ferrelectric super-crystal with micrometric unit cell from modulated nanoscale disorder in potassium-lithium-tantalate-niobate, which is potentially useful for engineering ordered states out of disorder.

    • D. Pierangeli
    • , M. Ferraro
    •  & E. DelRe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    At very low temperature, particle-like objects such as atoms and material phase boundaries become less able to move due to thermally inactivity. Here, Kagawa et al. show that ferroelectric domain walls gain energy for creep motion due to quantum fluctuations at low temperature.

    • Fumitaka Kagawa
    • , Nao Minami
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelastic switching in thin films is typically restricted by constraints from the substrate or occurs around twin-like domains. Here, the authors show reversible and non-volatile ferroelastic switching avoiding substrate constraints in layered-perovskite Bi_2WO_6 epitaxial films.

    • Chuanshou Wang
    • , Xiaoxing Ke
    •  & Jinxing Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spontaneous polarization in ferroelectric materials leads to their use as photovoltaic devices. Here, the authors show by first-principles calculations how nanolayering of PbTiO3with nickel ions and oxygen vacancies can result in enhanced photocurrents due to smaller bandgaps and photocurrent alignment.

    • Fenggong Wang
    • , Steve M. Young
    •  & Andrew M. Rappe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoelectrochemical systems based on plasmonics require control of band bending at the interface as well as transport of hot carriers. Here, Wang et al. employ a ferroelectric material, Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, with gold on ITO to capture hot electrons from the metal and manipulate the photoexcited charges for energy conversion.

    • Zhijie Wang
    • , Dawei Cao
    •  & Yong Lei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large barocaloric effects driven by pressure may lead to environmentally friendly cooling, but they have only been observed in a small number of relatively expensive magnetic materials. Here, the authors show large barocaloric effects near the ferrielectric phase transition in ammonium sulphate.

    • P. Lloveras
    • , E. Stern-Taulats
    •  & X. Moya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroelectric materials possess spontaneous electrical polarization coupled to their underlying lattice structure, which may be utilized technologically. Here, the authors use band-excitation piezoresponse/elastic spectroscopy to study the sub-megahertz dynamics of a structural phase transition in BiFeO3.

    • Q Li
    • , Y. Cao
    •  & N. Balke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium niobate has piezoelectric and birefringent properties useful for optics, but it is not readily integrated with traditional optoelectronics. Here, the authors create a device that senses photoconductance in semiconducting molybdenum disulfide using surface acoustic waves excited in lithium niobate.

    • Edwin Preciado
    • , Florian J.R. Schülein
    •  & Hubert J. Krenner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whilst chiral magnets can support topologically protected particle-like magnetization textures called skyrmions, ferroelectric skyrmions have yet to be observed. Here, the authors use first-principles-based calculations to demonstrate the possibility of ferroelectric skyrmions in oxide nanocomposites.

    • Y. Nahas
    • , S. Prokhorenko
    •  & L. Bellaiche

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interfaces can give rise to novel states of matter not found in bulk materials. Here, the authors use microwave impedance microscopy to show that the conductivity at charge-order domain walls in a layered manganite is higher than in the rest of the material, due to local lifting of the charge order.

    • Eric Yue Ma
    • , Benjamin Bryant
    •  & Zhi-Xun Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum critical behaviour emerges when quantum fluctuations perturb the balance between electronic states of a material having the same energy, and can lead to novel phenomena. Here, the authors discover quantum criticality in the ferroelectric behaviour of organic molecular solids.

    • Sachio Horiuchi
    • , Kensuke Kobayashi
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In ferromagnets, domain wall control is vital for applications like racetrack memory, whereas in ferroelectrics it could facilitate new electronics. Here, the authors demonstrate a diode for ferroelectric domain wall motion, where domain walls can move in one direction but not in the other.

    • J.R. Whyte
    •  & J.M. Gregg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lead-halide perovskite compounds have seen a considerable interest for their optoelectronic properties. Here, the authors discover a ferroelectric halide perovskite compound as an alternative pathway towards designing semiconductor ferroelectrics.

    • Wei-Qiang Liao
    • , Yi Zhang
    •  & Ren-Gen Xiong

  • Article |

    Domain walls in ferroelectrics can lead to phenomena different from the bulk. Here the authors achieve polarization control of charged domain walls in improper ferroelectrics by magnetic fields that convert neutral into charged domain walls.

    • Naëmi Leo
    • , Anders Bergman
    •  & Dennis Meier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Domain walls between ferroelectric domains are of interest for ferroelectric memory and to achieve a better control of the switching process. Here, the authors induce the motion of ferroelectric domains by light, creating a new possibility to control ferroelectrics.

    • Fernando Rubio-Marcos
    • , Adolfo Del Campo
    •  & Jose F. Fernández

  • Article |

    Multiferroic BiFeO3 is promising for applications where electric and magnetic fields need to be coupled, for example, in magnetic data storage. Here, combining theory and experiment the authors provide a microscopic insight into the switching of magnetization by electric fields in BiFeO3.

    • Ziyao Zhou
    • , Morgan Trassin
    •  & Nian X. Sun

  • Article |

    The control of electrical charges through an electronic field is the basis of modern electronic devices such as the transistor. Here, the authors achieve charge density modulation through a ferroelectric field effect in germanium and barium titanate thin-film heterostructures.

    • Patrick Ponath
    • , Kurt Fredrickson
    •  & Alexander A. Demkov

  • Article |

    BiFeO3is one of the most widely studied multiferroic materials, as it offers a strong coupling between magnetism and electric polarization up to room temperature. Here, studying monodomain crystals, the authors find an additional electric polarization component orthogonal to the widely studied one.

    • M. Tokunaga
    • , M. Akaki
    •  & N. Furukawa

  • Article |

    Ferroelectric tunnel junctions, where electrical transport occurs across two electrodes separated by a ferroelectric layer, could be used for future non-volatile computer memories. Here, the authors employ graphene as an electrode in tunnel junctions for interface-facilitated enhancement of device performance.

    • H. Lu
    • , A. Lipatov
    •  & A. Gruverman

  • Article |

    The electroresistance displayed by ferroelectric tunnel junctions could be used for non-volatile computer memories and other computing applications. Here, the authors show that effects from ferroelectric–electrode interfaces can have a strong positive impact on the electroresistance in such junctions.

    • Rohit Soni
    • , Adrian Petraru
    •  & Hermann Kohlstedt

  • Article |

    Relaxor ferroelectrics are important materials that are used in electronic capacitors and other devices, although the origin of their unusual properties remains poorly understood. Here, the authors predict that Fano resonances between phonon modes could explain some properties of lead-free relaxors.

    • D. Wang
    • , J. Hlinka
    •  & L. Bellaiche

  • Article |

    The switching of ferroelectric polarization is of promise for non-volatile electronic memory devices. Here, the authors show that nanodomains in a ferroelectric composite allow the arbitrary rotation of the macroscopic polarization, potentially enabling memory devices with more than two storage states.

    • R. K. Vasudevan
    • , Y. Matsumoto
    •  & V. Nagarajan

  • Article |

    Multiferroics are promising for their simultaneous ferroelectricity and magnetism, although in some of the most promising compounds the ferroelectric polarization remains small. Here, the authors show that applying external pressure to the multiferroic TbMnO3leads to a high ferroelectric polarization.

    • T. Aoyama
    • , K. Yamauchi
    •  & T. Kimura

  • Article |

    Long-range order of electric or magnetic dipoles leads to ferroic properties such as ferromagnetism or ferroelectricity. Here, the authors find that the previously observed magnetic toroidal order in LiCoPO4represents its own ferroic order, arising from the violation of space- and time-inversion symmetry.

    • Anne S. Zimmermann
    • , Dennis Meier
    •  & Manfred Fiebig

  • Article |

    Domain walls play an important role in the switching of ferroelectrics. Here, mapping out electric fields within ferroelectric thin films, the authors uncover electronic band bending as the origin of head-to-head domain walls that are difficult to switch and may hamper ferroelectric device performance.

    • Myung-Geun Han
    • , Matthew S.J. Marshall
    •  & Yimei Zhu

  • Article |

    In magnets and ferroelectrics, domains of regions with different ferroic orientation play an important role for the performance of devices based on these materials. Here, the authors create and control ultrafine domains in a ferroelectric that are only 10 nm wide and extend for tens of micrometres.

    • Ludwig Feigl
    • , Petr Yudin
    •  & Nava Setter

  • Article |

    The switching of ferroelectric domains can be used for applications such as information storage. Here, the authors demonstrate that a broad range of domain morphologies can be induced by the tip of a scanning probe microscope, which can be explained by the dynamics of surface charge screening.

    • Anton V. Ievlev
    • , Anna N. Morozovska
    •  & Sergei V. Kalinin

  • Review Article |

    Computer memory based on ferroelectric polarization is a promising alternative to technologies based, for example, on magnetism. Here, Garcia and Bibes review how ferroelectric tunnel junctions, where ferroelectric polarization controls electrical resistance, could improve the performance of these devices.

    • Vincent Garcia
    •  & Manuel Bibes

  • Article |

    In ferroelectrics, domains of different polarization determine the switching behaviour and are therefore crucial to their practical use. Here, Matzen et al. observe the formation and control of superdomain arrangements of nanoscale domains in thin films that mimic the single-domain ground state.

    • S. Matzen
    • , O. Nesterov
    •  & B. Noheda

  • Article |

    Crystal symmetries play an important role in the properties of materials, but allow little dynamic control once the materials have been grown. Here, the authors show that conducting oxides sandwiched between independently switchable ferroelectric films achieve tunable symmetry for controllable properties.

    • C. Becher
    • , M. Trassin
    •  & D. Meier

  • Article |

    The generation of strain in a material using light is of relevance for ultrasonic devices. Here, the authors observe a large, ultrafast photo-induced shear strain in BiFeO3at room temperature, suggesting promising uses of such oxides for high-frequency acoustic devices.

    • Mariusz Lejman
    • , Gwenaelle Vaudel
    •  & Pascal Ruello

  • Article |

    The electromechanical response of thin film ferroelectric devices is considerably influenced by ferroelastic domains. Here, the authors observe that these ferroeleastic domains can be stabilized by dislocations, providing feedback for a better control over the properties of these devices.

    • Peng Gao
    • , Jason Britson
    •  & Xiaoqing Pan

  • Article |

    Relaxor ferroelectrics are of interest for applications such as actuators and sensors because of their very large electromechanical responses. Here the authors show that phonon localization drives the generation of the polar nanoregions that explain this electromechanical behaviour.

    • M.E. Manley
    • , J.W. Lynn
    •  & J.D. Budai

  • Article |

    Flexible organic electronics operated at extreme mechanical conditions are crucial for the next generation of smart foldable electronic applications. Kim et al.show non-volatile organic memory devices that are subject to sharp bending deformation without protection from a stress-release layer.

    • Richard Hahnkee Kim
    • , Hae Jin Kim
    •  & Cheolmin Park

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