title: Polar domains in lead titanate films under tensile strain.
abstract: Thin films of PbTiO3, a classical ferroelectric, have been grown under tensile strain on single-crystal substrates of DyScO3. The films, of only 5 nm thickness, grow fully coherent with the substrate, as evidenced by synchrotron x-ray diffraction. A mapping of the reciprocal space reveals intensity modulations (satellites) due to regularly spaced polar domains in which the polarization appears rotated away from the substrate normal, characterizing a low-symmetry phase not observed in the bulk material. This could have important practical implications since these phases are known to be responsible for ultrahigh piezoelectric responses in complex systems.
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Centre, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747AG, The Netherlands. gcat05@esc.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Catalan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rispens
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Csiszar
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Seeck
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rijnders
authors.forename: D H A
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Noheda