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Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Measuring Magnetically-Tuned Ferroelectric Polarization in Liquid Crystals
Published on: August 15, 2018
A Roadmap for Ferroelectric-Antiferroelectric Phase Transition
Ru-Jian Jiang1,2, Yun-Long Tang1,2, Su-Zhen Liu1,2
1Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
Abstract:
Antiferroelectric materials have shown great potential in electronic devices benefiting from the reversible phase transition between ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases. Understanding the dipole arrangements and clear phase transition pathways is crucial for design of antiferroelectric materials-based energy storage and conversion devices. However, the specific phase transition details remain largely unclear and even controversial to date. Here, we have grown a series of PbZrO3 on SrTiO3 substrates and elucidated the fine atom structures and phase transition pathways using atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Specifically, a roadmap for ferroelectric to antiferroelectric phase transitions, here with increasing film thickness, is determined as ferroelectric rhombohedral (R3c)-ferroelectric monoclinic (Pc)-ferrielectric orthorhombic (Ima2)-antiferroelectric orthorhombic (Pbam), where Pc and Ima2 phases act as structural bridges. Moreover, the phase transition pathway is strongly related to the synergistic effect of oxygen octahedral tilting and cation displacement. These findings provide an insightful understanding for the theories and related properties of antiferroelectrics.
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