Published in

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science Advances, 5(8), 2022

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg5860

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Liberating a hidden antiferroelectric phase with interfacial electrostatic engineering

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Antiferroelectric materials have seen a resurgence of interest because of proposed applications in a number of energy-efficient technologies. Unfortunately, relatively few families of antiferroelectric materials have been identified, precluding many proposed applications. Here, we propose a design strategy for the construction of antiferroelectric materials using interfacial electrostatic engineering. We begin with a ferroelectric material with one of the highest known bulk polarizations, BiFeO3. By confining thin layers of BiFeO3in a dielectric matrix, we show that a metastable antiferroelectric structure can be induced. Application of an electric field reversibly switches between this new phase and a ferroelectric state. The use of electrostatic confinement provides an untapped pathway for the design of engineered antiferroelectric materials with large and potentially coupled responses.