Long range ordering of 71° domain walls in epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films

Abstract

Substrate-related aspects are often utilized to tune domain architectures in ferroelectric thin films. In this work, however, we report on the role of background pressure during film growth in stabilizing certain domain states. The growth of BiFeO3 films in high-background pressure conditions results in c-oriented films in conjunction with a long-range ordering of 71° domain walls. The importance of high-pressure is highlighted by replacing half of the oxygen background gas with argon. The proposed mechanism takes into account the enhanced surface diffusivity and screening of depolarization fields during high-pressure growth.