Just another WordPress site - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Abstract

Defect dipoles can alter the polarization switching and the dynamics of domain walls in ferroelectrics [1, 2], which may result in internal bias fields, domain-wall pinning [3] and bowing. In this work, we use ab initio based molecular dynamics simulations based on the effective Hamiltonian method [4, 5] to investigate the impact of defect dipoles on the domain-walls motion of tetragonal and orthorhombic phases in BaTiO₃. We find that the internal bias induced by defect dipoles may modify the potential energy landscape and leads to a completely different migration path for domain switching, which can pin and possibly even accelerate domain-wall motion.

References:
[1] X. Ren, Nat. Mater. 3, 91-94 (2004)
[2] A. Grünebohm, M. Marathe, R. Khachaturyan, R. Schiedung, D. C. Lupascu, and V. V. Shvartsman, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 34, 073002 (2021)
[3] A. Dimou, P. Hirel, and A. Grünebohm, Phys. Rev. B 106, 094104 (2022)
[4] W. Zhong, D. Vanderbilt, and K. M. Rabe, Phys. Rev. B 52, 6301-6312 (1995)
[5] T. Nishimatsu, M. Iwamoto, Y. Kawazoe, and U. V. Waghmare, Phys. Rev. B 82, 134106 (2010)