Emergence of ferroelectricity in antiferroelectric nanostructures

First-principles-based finite-temperature simulations are used to predict the emergence of ferroelectricity in antiferroelectric nanostructures made of PbZrO3. The phenomenon is expected to occur in antiferroelectric nanodots, nanowires, and thin films with good surface charge compensation and can be explained by the recently proposed surface effect. Our computations provide a microscopic insight into the equilibrium phases, phase competition, and electrical properties of PbZrO3 nanostructures. The dependence of these properties on the electrical boundary conditions and nanostructure size is investigated.