Giant Flexoelectric Effect in Ferroelectric Epitaxial Thin Films
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- 29 July 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 107 (5), 057602
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.107.057602
Abstract
We report on nanoscale strain gradients in ferroelectric epitaxial thin films, resulting in a giant flexoelectric effect. Using grazing-incidence in-plane x-ray diffraction, we measured strain gradients in the films, which were 6 or 7 orders of magnitude larger than typical values reported for bulk oxides. The combination of transmission electron microscopy, electrical measurements, and electrostatic calculations showed that flexoelectricity provides a means of tuning the physical properties of ferroelectric epitaxial thin films, such as domain configurations and hysteresis curves.
Keywords
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