Giant voltage amplification from electrostatically induced incipient ferroelectric states

Abstract

Ferroelectrics subject to suitable electric boundary conditions present a steady negative capacitance response1,2. When the ferroelectric is in a heterostructure, this behaviour yields a voltage amplification in the other elements, which experience a potential difference larger than the one applied, holding promise for low-power electronics3. So far research has focused on verifying this effect and little is known about how to optimize it. Here, we describe an electrostatic theory of ferroelectric/dielectric superlattices, convenient model systems4,5, and show the relationship between the negative permittivity of the ferroelectric layers and the voltage amplification in the dielectric ones. Then, we run simulations of PbTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices to reveal the factors most strongly affecting the amplification. In particular, we find that giant effects (up to tenfold increases) can be obtained when PbTiO3 is brought close to the so-called ‘incipient ferroelectric’ state.