Electric field driven phase transition and possible twining quasi-tetragonal phase in compressively strained BiFeO3 thin films

• Main Authors: Lu, Cheng-Liang, Liu, Jun-Ming, Wu, Tao
• Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Physics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/100043; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/16262
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Highly compressively strained BiFeO3 thin films with different thickness are epitaxially grown on (001) LaAlO3 substrates and characterized using various techniques. The quasi-tetragonal phase with a giant axial ratio of ∼ 1.25 and its thickness-dependent evolution are investigated. An interesting twining structure of the quasi-tetragonal phase is evidenced in thicker films through detailed reciprocal space mapping, which becomes more pronounced with increasing film thickness. Moreover, an interesting electric-field driven phase transition was evidenced in the film with a thickness of 38 nm, in which the quasi-tetragonal and rhombohedral phases are close to each other in energy landscape.