Antiphase boundaries (APBs) are unique domain walls that may demonstrate switchable polarization in otherwise non-ferroelectric materials such as SrTiO3 and PbZrO3. The current study explores the possibility of displacing such domain walls at the nanoscale. We suggest the possibility of manipulating APBs using the inhomogeneous electric field of an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) tip with an applied voltage placed in their proximity. The displacement is studied as a function of applied voltage, film thickness, and initial separation of the AFM tip from the APB. It is established, for example, that for films with thickness of 15 nm, an APB may be attracted under the tip with a voltage of 25 V from initial separation of 30 nm. We have also demonstrated that the displacement is appreciably retained after the voltage is removed, rendering it favorable for potential applications.

the paraelectric to AFE phase transition, cell quadrupling in PbZrO 3 results in the appearance of TBs. These boundaries are characterized by translation vectors R = [ a / n 1 , b / n 2 , c / n 3 ], 1/ n i ( i = 1, 2, 3), which are fractions of the unit-cell translation vectors. In this work, we report on the relation between formation of polar TBs and the interfacial strain in the system of PbZrO 3 thin fi lms grown on SrTiO 3 substrates. In combination with geometric phase analysis (GPA), [ 28 ] high-angle annular-dark-fi eld (HAADF) imaging and Stripe scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) techniques based on aberration-corrected STEM allowed us to determine the structural arrangement and strain distribution near the interfaces.

We report the results of a comprehensive study of the critical dynamics of the classical perovskite antiferroelectric PbZrO3. The combination of inelastic x-ray and diffuse x-ray scattering techniques and Brillouin light scattering was used. It is found that the dispersion of the transverse acoustic (TA) phonons is strongly anisotropic. The dispersion curve of the in-plane polarized TA phonons propagating in [1 1 0] direction demonstrates pronounced softening. Slowing down of the excitations at R point is found, it is manifested in growing of the central peak. This slowing down is too weak to be considered as a primary origin of the corresponding order parameter. Obtained results are treated in terms of TA-transverse optic (TO) flexoelectric mode coupling. It is demonstrated that the structural phase transformation in PbZrO3 can be considered as the result of the only intrinsic instability associated with the ferroelectric soft mode.

Antiferroelectrics are essential ingredients for the widely applied piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials: the most common ferroelectric, lead zirconate titanate is an alloy of the ferroelectric lead titanate and the antiferroelectric lead zirconate. Antiferroelectrics themselves are useful in large digital displacement transducers and energy-storage capacitors. Despite their technological importance, the reason why materials become antiferroelectric has remained allusive since their first discovery. Here we report the results of a study on the lattice dynamics of the antiferroelectric lead zirconate using inelastic and diffuse X-ray scattering techniques and the Brillouin light scattering. The analysis of the results reveals that the antiferroelectric state is a ‘missed’ incommensurate phase, and that the paraelectric to antiferroelectric phase transition is driven by the softening of a single lattice mode via flexoelectric coupling. These findings resolve the mystery of the origin of antiferroelectricity in lead zirconate and suggest an approach to the treatment of complex phase transitions in ferroics. Although antiferroelectric lead zirconate is a principal component in the most widely used piezoelectric ceramics, the nature of its antiferroelectricticity has been unclear. Here Tagantsevet al.reveal how this phenomenon arises from the softening of a single lattice mode.