Journal article
The Observation of Polarization Fatigue in Epitaxial BiFeO3 Thin Films with Inhibited Ferroelastic Switching
ACS applied materials & interfaces, v 17(15), pp 22974-22983
16 Apr 2025
PMID: 40170462
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Polarization fatigue has remained a severe problem for the application of ferroelectric oxide in memories, sensors, and electric circuits due to the limited understanding of its underlying physics. This study identifies inhibited ferroelastic switching as a primary driver of polarization fatigue in BiFeO3 thin films deposited on SrTiO3(110) substrates. Using voltage-biased piezo-response force microscopy, we observed polarization pinning resulting from cyclic ferroelectric domain writing. This unswitchable polarization stems from charged ferroelastic domain walls, stabilized by defect accumulation, which increases internal stress within the thin film. Elevated stress suppresses ferroelastic switching, clamping BFO unit cells away from domain walls and leading to reduced remnant polarization in ferroelectric hysteresis loops. The fatigue mechanism becomes more pronounced in high-quality thin films, as evidenced by fatigue-free BiFeO3 films with larger full-width-at-half-maximum (fwhm) values in X-ray rocking curve analyses. Notably, the fatigue is reversible, which depends on the elimination of the ferroelastic domain wall with long-term poling that allows the removal of the charged defects from the domain boundary, followed by the release of the internal stress in the thin film system.
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Details
- Title
- The Observation of Polarization Fatigue in Epitaxial BiFeO3 Thin Films with Inhibited Ferroelastic Switching
- Creators
- Dongfang Chen - Drexel UniversityXiaojun Tan - Fudan UniversityYan Zhang - Fudan UniversityJun Jiang - Fudan University
- Publication Details
- ACS applied materials & interfaces, v 17(15), pp 22974-22983
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society
- Number of pages
- 10
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001458385600001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105003087978
- Other Identifier
- 991022197333704721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
- Nanoscience & Nanotechnology