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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Atomically Defined Templates for Epitaxial Growth of Complex Oxide Thin Films
Published on: December 4, 2014
Nanoscale switching characteristics of nearly tetragonal BiFeO3 thin films
Dipanjan Mazumdar1, Vilas Shelke, Milko Iliev
1Center for Materials for Information Technology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, USA.
Abstract:
We have investigated the nanoscale switching properties of strain-engineered BiFeO(3) thin films deposited on LaAlO(3) substrates using a combination of scanning probe techniques. Polarized Raman spectral analysis indicates that the nearly tetragonal films have monoclinic (Cc) rather than P4mm tetragonal symmetry. Through local switching-spectroscopy measurements and piezoresponse force microscopy, we provide clear evidence of ferroelectric switching of the tetragonal phase, but the polarization direction, and therefore its switching, deviates strongly from the expected (001) tetragonal axis. We also demonstrate a large and reversible, electrically driven structural phase transition from the tetragonal to the rhombohedral polymorph in this material, which is promising for a plethora of applications.
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