Effect of a single dislocation in a heterostructure layer on the local polarization of a ferroelectric layer.
We study, on an atomic scale, the influence of a single dislocation in a SrTiO3 sublayer on the local ferroelectric polarization of the neighboring ferroelectric PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PZT) sublayer in an epitaxial SrTiO3/PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3/SrTiO3 three-layer heterostructure. The strain field of the dislocation in the SrTiO3 layer propagates across the interface into the PZT layer and leads to a strong variation of the c-lattice parameter of the PZT layer. Accompanying a strong reduction of the c-lattice parameter, the off-center displacements of the Zr/Ti atoms away from the center of the oxygen octahedra are also strongly decreased, resulting in a decrease of the local spontaneous polarization by up to 48%.
Jia
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Institute of Solid State Research and Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany. c.jia@fz-juelich.de
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Urban
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Vrejoiu
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Alexe
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Hesse
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