Quasipolaron surface states in antiferromagnetic dielectrics

Abstract

Dynamic responses of copper titanates to alternating electric fields with different strengths are characterized in terms of dielectric spectrums. This work extends the introduction of quasipolaron surface polarization (QSP). A collective of quasipolarons pinned at grain surfaces is involved in the electric polarization, which is confirmed by the quadratic polarization–permittivity relation. Because electric polarization is a macroscopic quantum effect, the QSP is described in terms of the density of states (DOS). As a sign of reverse ferroelectricity, dielectric hysteresis loops of reverse-S shape reveal that the characteristic remnant polarization is proportional to the DOS ratio of quasipolaron surface excited to ground states. Although the DOS of the surface ground state is dependent on the mole ratio of quasipolaron quantity, both the DOS and the energy levels of surface excited states show the intrinsic angular-frequency dependence in a power function manner.