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Updated: May 23, 2026

Chemical Synthesis of Porous Barium Titanate Thin Film and Thermal Stabilization of Ferroelectric Phase by Porosity-Induced Strain
Published on: March 27, 2018
Persistence of surface domain structures for a bulk ferroelectric above TC
A Höfer1, M Fechner, K Duncker
1Institute of Physics, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany. anke.hoefer@physik.uni-halle.de
Abstract:
Photoemission electron microscopy performed on a well-prepared surface of BaTiO3 reveals the persistence of surface domains at temperatures well above the bulk Curie temperature. Their patterns follow the ferroelectric domain structure observed at 300 K. The contrast between formerly outward polarized domains and in-plane polarized domains is preserved across the transition, while the contrast of inward polarized domains changes sign. The work functions of different possible structures are compared by first-principles calculations. The domain contrast in photoemission above the bulk Curie temperature is associated with a remaining tetragonal distortion of the topmost unit cells which is stabilized by an ionic surface relaxation.
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