Formation Of Domain Structure Research Articles

On the possibility of domain structure formation in lithium niobate by low energy (< 5 keV) electron beam

The authors' assumption about the possibility of nanodomain generation in the ferroelectric LiNbO3 by relatively low energy (< 5 keV) electron beams has been experimentally confirmed. The calculated electron-induced electric fields and changes in the polarization state of the near-surface layer in the -Z cut of LiNbO3 agree with the experimental results at the energies of the primary electrons Eb = 1 and 3 keV. In the proposed four-layer model of surface charging by low-energy electrons, electron-stimulated desorption of compensating atoms and molecules from the contaminated absorbing film into a vacuum plays an important role. The presented new results confirming the formation of domains in the near-surface layer at low electron beam energy can expand the possibilities of domain engineering using electron beam technologies, especially in the field of photonics.

Analysis of Relationship between Microwave Magnetic Properties and Magnetic Structure of Permalloy Films

Changes in the microwave permeability of permalloy films with an increase in the film thickness are studied. Measurement data on the evolution of microwave permeability with film thickness are analyzed in the framework of a model for the film with a regular stripe domain structure and out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy. A correlation between the microwave magnetic properties and magnetic structure of permalloy films is established. It is demonstrated that the observed decrease in the ferromagnetic resonance frequency and the static permeability with a growth in the film thickness can ascribed to the appearance of perpendicular anisotropy and the formation of a stripe domain structure. The calculated dependences of the ferromagnetic resonance frequency and static permeability on the film thickness are in reasonable agreement with the measurement results. Based on the analysis of these dependences, the domain width in the permalloy films is estimated. It is found that for thick permalloy films, the domain width is of the order of the film thickness. The results obtained may be useful for high-frequency applications of soft magnetic films.

Magnetic domain structure of iron-based microwires after removal of the glass shell by chipping and chemical etching

The magnetic domain structure of the surface of microwires with composition Fe73.9B13.2Si10.9C2 was studied by magnetic force microscopy. It has been found that the removal of glass shell by chipping leads to distortion of the original magnetic domain structure. Chemical etching of the glass shell makes it possible to observe the magnetic domain structure due to the stresses that have arisen due to the microwire production. In the absence of an applied magnetic field, a magnetic domain structure of the surface layer is observed, consisting of domain layers inclined to the microwire axis by 45 or 135 degrees. This structure has a shape close to a zigzag. The thickness of the domain layers is not constant and varies from 3 to 5 μm. It has been found that the application of a constant magnetic field along the microwire axis causes the formation of ring domain layers of various thicknesses (from 1 to 5 μm) with different orientations of the magnetic moment relative to the microwire surface. In a field of 60 oersteds along the axis of the microwire, the domain magnetic structure consists of only ring layers of domains. Magnetic field inversion leads to almost complete inversion of the observed domain structure. In this case, the complete removal of the magnetic field leads to the formation of a new domain structure of the surface layer. Such a structure is close in shape and position of the domains to the original one, but does not repeat it.

Domain patterning in nonpolar cut PMN–PT by focused ion beam

The formation of the ferroelectric domain structure as a result of irradiation by focused ion beam of [100]-cut 0.61Pb(Mg[Formula: see text]Nb[Formula: see text]O3–0.39PbTiO3 (PMN–PT) single crystals covered by surface artificial dielectric layer and with free surface was investigated. The dot irradiation resulted in formation of the wedge-like domains grown along [00[Formula: see text]] direction. For irradiation of the free surface, the domains are mainly located under the surface, while at the irradiated surface with an artificial dielectric layer the domains are located at the surface. It was shown that the subsurface wedge-shaped part of the domain is unstable and completely disappears after a month due to spontaneous backswitching under the action of the residual depolarization field. The revealed nonlinear dose dependence of the domain sizes was attributed to the distribution of the electric field using the point charge model. The domain interaction for the distance between irradiated dots below 30[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m has been revealed in all samples. It was shown that the decrease of the distance between irradiated dots in the created domain row leads to an increase in the length of the central domains, which is explained by the contribution of all injected charges to the switching field.

Erratum: Stochastic theory of ferroelectric domain structure formation dominated by quenched disorder [Phys. Rev. B 107, 144109 (2023)

Received 5 June 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.219903©2023 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasDomainsFerroelectricityPhase transitionsPhysical SystemsFerroelectricsSingle crystal materialsTechniquesBifurcation analysisLandau-Ginzburg-Devonshire theoryStochastic analysisStochastic analysis methodsStochastic differential equationsCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsStatistical Physics

Stochastic theory of ferroelectric domain structure formation dominated by quenched disorder

A self-consistent stochastic model of domain structure formation in a uniaxial ferroelectric, quenched from a high-temperature paraelectric phase to a low-temperature ferroelectric phase, is developed with an account of the applied electric field and the feedback effect via local depolarization fields. Both polarization and field components are considered as Gauss random variables. A system of integro-differential equations for correlation functions of all involved variables is derived and solved analytically and numerically. Phase diagram in terms of the average value and dispersion of polarization reveals different possible equilibrium states and available final single-domain and multi-domain states. The time-dependent evolution of the average polarization and dispersion discloses a bifurcation behavior and the temperature-dependent value of the electric field, deciding between the single-domain and multi-domain final states, which can be interpreted as the coercive field. Analytical and numerical results for the time-dependent correlation length and correlation functions exhibit plausible agreement with available experimental data.

Ultralow Lattice Thermal Conductivity and High Thermoelectric Performance in Ge1–x–yBixCayTe with Ultrafine Ferroelectric Domain Structure

GeTe and its derivatives emerging as a promising lead-free thermoelectric candidate have received extensive attention. Here, a new route was proposed that the minimization of κL in GeTe through considerable enhancement of acoustic phonon scattering by introducing ultrafine ferroelectric domain structure. We found that Bi and Ca dopants induce strong atomic strain disturbance in the GeTe matrix because of large differences in atom radius with host elements, leading to the formation of ultrafine ferroelectric domain structure. Furthermore, large strain field and mass fluctuation induced by Bi and Ca codoping result in further reduced κL by effectively shortening the phonon relaxation time. The co-existence of ultrafine ferroelectric domain structure, large strain field, and mass fluctuation contribute to an ultralow lattice thermal conductivity of 0.48 W m-1 K-1 at 823 K. Bi and Ca codoping significantly enhances the Seebeck coefficient and power factor through reducing the energy offset between light and heavy valence bands of GeTe. The modified band structure boosts the power factor up to 47 μW cm-1 K-2 in Ge0.85Bi0.09Ca0.06Te. Ultimately, a high ZT of ∼2.2 can be attained. This work demonstrates a new design paradigm for developing high-performance thermoelectric materials.

Microstructural evolution and thermal-physical properties of YTaO4 coating after high-temperature exposure

YTaO4 is a promising candidate materials for next thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) due to low thermal conductivity, high thermal expansion coefficients, high melting point and low modulus. However, the current research on YTaO4 coating is relatively limited, there are obvious gaps of thermo-mechanical properties between bulks and coating. In this work, the YTaO4 coating was deposited on graphite substrate and TC4 substrate via atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The phase transition temperature of M ↔ T phase is about 1426 ± 7 °C, which cause to the formation of ferroelastic domain structure. YTaO4 coating have an excellence anti-sintering performance due to a stable porosity during heat treatment, and the bonding strengths of YTaO4 coating on TC4 substrate has the maximum (35.12 ± 2.34 MPa) when the top coating thickness is ~250 μm. Compared with YTaO4 bulk, the thermal conductivity (0.53 W·m−1·K−1, 900 °C) of YTaO4 coating is reduced by 67–70 % in the entire temperature range. The low thermal conductivity for YTaO4 coating is the results of phonon scattering by porosity, domain boundaries and point defects. Moreover, the healing of intersplat pores with the increase of sintering temperature had significantly improved the hardness and elastic modulus of the coating.

Domain Structure Formation in Designing of the Opened Informative Measuring Systems

The opened systems possess an increasing significance and possibilities of applying in designing of measuring devices. Now an essentially nonlinear models are used for such systems. The perturbation approach is not enough for these purposes. Models of new types have solutions in a form of soliton or kink and similar objects. The equation of Fisher–Kolmogorov–Petrovskii–Piskunov is one of such equations. This equation is used for description of convection-reaction-diffusion processes. Such processes are used for studying of a self-organisation and formation of a structure in non-equilibrium opened systems. The aim of this work was to construct of a new solution for the modified equation of Fisher–Kolmogorov– Petrovskii–Piskunov in which a space inhomogeneity is accounted.To solve this problem the direct Hirota method for nonlinear partial differential equation is applied.Some modifications into this method were introduced.The new topologically non-trivial solution of the modified Fisher–Kolmogorov–Petrovskii–Piskunov equation is constructed explicitly. This solution has a kink-like form. Some arguments on the stability of such solution are considered.A possibility of domain structure formation in the systems which describe by the Fisher–Kolmogorov– Petrovskii–Piskunov equation is demonstrated.

Mechanically tunable elastic modulus of freestanding Ba1−xSrxTiO3 membranes via phase-field simulation

The freestanding ferroelectric membranes with super-elasticity show promising applications in flexible electronic devices such as transducers, memories, etc. While there have been recent studies on the effect of mechanical bending on the domain structure evolutions and phase transitions in ferroelectric membranes, its influence on Young's modulus of these freestanding membranes is less explored, which is crucial for the design and application of flexible electronics. Here, a phase-field model is developed to simulate the tunability of Young's modulus of freestanding Ba1−xSrxTiO3 membranes under mechanical bending. It is demonstrated that the bended membrane shows a uniform Young's modulus compared with unbended membrane. By increasing the bending angle, Young's modulus tunability is enhanced, which can be attributed to the vortex-like domain structures induced by the mechanical bending. These vortex-like domains with large domain wall energy inhibit the subsequent domain switching under externally applied tensile strain and reduce the eigenstrain variation, which leads to a large Young's modulus. In addition, the formation of vortex domain structure is suppressed with increasing Sr2+ content in Ba1−xSrxTiO3 membranes at the same bending degree, resulting in a decrease in Young's modulus tunability. Our work reveals that the tunability of Young's modulus of freestanding ferroelectric membranes can be achieved by mechanical bending, which provides guidance for designing flexible electronic devices.

Intermolecular interaction and cooperativity in an Fe(II) spin crossover molecular thin film system

Compact domain features have been observed in spin crossover [Fe{H2B(pz)2}2(bipy)] molecular thin film systems via soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy and photoemission electron microscopy. The domains are in a mixed spin state that on average corresponds to roughly 2/3 the high spin occupation of the pure high spin state. Monte Carlo simulations support the presence of intermolecular interactions that can be described in terms of an Ising model in which interactions beyond nearest-neighbors cannot be neglected. This suggests the presence of short-range order to permit interactions between molecules beyond nearest neighbor that contribute to the formation of largely high spin state domains structure. The formation of a spin state domain structure appears to be the result of extensive cooperative effects.

On the Possible Nature of Armchair-Zigzag Structure Formation and Heat Capacity Decrease in MWCNTs.

Structural disorder and temperature behavior of specific heat in multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been investigated. The results of X-ray diffractometry, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images are analyzed. The thermodynamic theory of the zigzag-armchair domain structure formation during nanotube synthesis is developed. The influence of structural disorder on the temperature behavior of specific heat is investigated. The size of domains was estimated at ~40 nm. A decrease in heat capacity is due to this size effect. The revealed dependence of the heat capacity of MWCNTs on the structural disorder allows control over thermal properties of nanotubes and can be useful for the development of thermoelectric, thermal interface materials and nanofluids based on them.

Formation of a quasi-equilibrium domain structure of crystals of the TGS group near TC

In the temperature range ΔT ≈ 321 K ÷ 322 K, the kinetics of the nonequilibrium domain structure of triglycine sulphate crystals, both pure and with specially introduced defects, has been studied by means of piezoresponse force microscopy technique. The temporal change in the domain structure as a set of regions with a scalar order parameter of P (r, t) = +1 and −1 for oppositely polarized domains was analysed by the behaviour of the space-time correlation function C(r,t) = ·Р(r,t)Р(0,t)Ò. At different distances from the Curie point Tc, the characteristic length Lc, as a scale measure of the average domain size, increases with time according to the power law Lc(t)~(t−t0)a. A decrease of the exponent a with distance from Tc can be a consequence of the transition of the domain structure of TGS crystals from a non-conservative state to aconservative one.

Atomic Visualization and Switching of Ferroelectric Order in β-In2 Se3 Films at the Single Layer Limit.

2D ferroelectrics have received wide interest due to the remarkable quantum states of emerging physics at reduced dimensionality, associated with their exotic properties in high-performance and nonvolatile functional devices. Here, by combing molecular beam epitaxy synthesis and scanning tunneling microscopy characterization, two metastable phases of layered In2 Se3 films: β'- and β*-In2 Se3 are reported, which develop different types of in-plane spontaneous polarizations, thus resulting in different striped morphologies. The anti-ferroelectric order in β'-In2 Se3 and ferroelectric order of β*-In2 Se3 are identified, respectively, down to the 2D limit by comprehensive investigations of structural and spectroscopic signatures, including the lattice distortion, the spatial profile of images, the formation of domain structure, and the electronic band-bending by polarization charges at edges. The ferroelectric switching between those two phases are further controlled via applying an electric field generated from the scanning tunneling microscopy tip in a reversible manner. The intriguing tunability between the (anti-)ferroelectric orders in the 2D limit provides a promising platform for studying the interplay between electronic structure and ferroelectricity in van der Waals materials, and promotes potential development of miniaturized transistors and memory devices based on electric polarizations.

Excellent soft magnetic properties in Co-based amorphous alloys after heat treatment at temperatures near the crystallization onset

The effect of heat treatment of Co-based amorphous microwires at temperatures near the crystallization (Tcr) onset on micromagnetic structure, magnetostriction, and magnetoimpedance (MI) was investigated. As the annealing temperature approaches Tcr, the hysteresis loops abruptly change the shape from almost rectangular to inclined with a small coercivity and remanence magnetization. This behavior is quite unique since even partial crystallization deteriorates soft magnetic properties. The Kerr-microscopy confirmed the formation of a fine circular domain structure and an easy anisotropy direction of a helical type. Both current and furnace annealing with appropriate high temperatures produce similar magnetic transformation. The origin of the formed easy anisotropy is different from that induced by current annealing at temperatures below the Curie temperature and is associated with a change in the magnetostriction constant, which drops from positive to negative values. This could be explained by structural relaxation leading to amorphous phase decomposition at the very initial stage of crystallization. The effect is not specific for the Co-rich alloy composition and was observed in microwires of two compositions: Co71Fe5B11Si10Cr3 and Co66.6Fe4.28B11.51Si14.48Ni1.44Mo1.69 which in the as-prepared state have axial and circumferential anisotropies, respectively. The obtained combination of magnetic anisotropy, magnetostriction and temperature stability leads to useful MI properties, in particular, at Gigahertz frequencies.

Analysis of Remagnetization Processes of High-Anisotropic Alloy after Heat Treatment

The simulation of the Sm(Co, Fe, Cu, Zr)7.5 type alloy domain structure formation after various thermal treatments was carried out by FMRM program based on a phenomenological approach to the analysis of the uniaxial highly anisotropic ferromagnets demagnetization processes. It is shown that the domain structure of the alloy in the thermally demagnetized state expands as the coercive force of the alloy decreases. It is noted that the domains size increasing process is associated not only with a decrease in the coercive force but also with a change in the influence of the magnetostatic interaction.

Pressure effect on the formation kinetics of ferroelectric domain structure under first order phase transitions

Within the framework of Landau–Ginzburg theory the kinetics of domain structure formation in ferroelectrics that undergo first order phase transition was investigated under the influence of hydrostatic pressure. It was established that mechanical action increases the tendency of nonequilibrium system in the formation of stable polydomain structure. Numerical analysis showed that the process of domain ordering can proceed both directly and with formation of short-living metastable polydomain phase. It was found that the incubation period of domain structure formation can be observed at the initial stage of relaxation. Using the KNO3 crystal as an example, it was shown that the time of evolution of the system to the thermodynamic equilibrium is inversely proportional to the pressure value. It was established that in KDP crystals near phase transition point (TC–T < 10 K) the hydrostatic pressure induces the destruction of ferroelectric ordering. It was shown that the value of critical pressure pcr increases with the growth of quenching temperature.

Electrocaloric effect enhancement in compositionally graded ferroelectric thin films driven by a needle-to-vortex domain structure transition

Obtaining large electrocaloric (EC) effects in ferroelectric materials is a prerequisite for incorporating them into advanced solid-state cooling devices. Based on phase-field simulations, we propose an effective approach for improving the EC effect near room temperature in compositionally graded ferroelectric (CGFE) thin films (e.g., Pb1 − x Sr x TiO3) by controlling the compositional gradient along the direction of the thickness of the films. The simulation results reveal the formation of a stable needle-like domain structure in CGFE films with large composition gradients, while a periodic striped domain structure is found in small-composition-gradient CGFE films. The temperature dependence of polarization can be tailored by controlling the composition gradient in the films. With rising temperatures, a notable transition from a needle-like to a vortex domain structure is observed in CGFE films, which is distinguishable from that observed in homogeneous ferroelectric films. Our work demonstrates that the EC effect (the adiabatic temperature change, ΔT) can be greatly improved by the needle-to-vortex domain transition that occurs when the composition gradient is increased. When the composition gradient increases, a larger EC effect is achieved at lower temperatures. Large-composition-gradient films exhibit multiple peaks of ΔT. The local concentration of the total energy near the root of the needle domains is also found to drive the needle-to-vortex domain transition, giving rise to an enhancement of the EC effect in CGFE films. Our study provides a potential pathway for designing ferroelectric thin films with enhanced EC properties for energy-efficient solid-state refrigeration.

Formation of submicron stripe domain ensembles during polarization reversal in Rb doped KTP crystal covered by dielectric layer

The formation of self-organized quasi-regular domain structure in Rb:KTP crystals covered by photoresist layer was studied. The instability of domain wall shape resulting in formation of domain streamers on the wall was revealed. The streamers structure appeared on Z+ polar surface and grew in polar direction. The minimal obtained structure period was 1 µm and the structure length reached 50 μm. The width of the stripe domains between the neighboring streamers went down to 100 nm and the resulting aspect ratio was 500. The obtained effect is very promising for the submicron periodical poling in the crystals of KTP family.

Pre-Sodiated Ti3C2Tx MXene Structure and Behavior as Electrode for Sodium-Ion Capacitors.

Layered titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) MXene is a promising electrode material for use in next-generation electrochemical capacitors. However, the atomic-level information needed to correlate the distribution of intercalated cations with surface redox reactions, has not been investigated in detail. Herein we report on sodium preintercalated MXene with high sodium content (up to 2Na per Ti3C2Tx formula) using a solution of Na-biphenyl radical anion complex (E0 ≈ -2.6 SHE). Multiple sodiation sites and formation of a two-dimensional sodium domain structure at interfaces/surfaces is identified through combined computational simulations with neutron pair distribution function analysis. The induced layer charges and the redox process characterized by the density-functional tight-binding method on a local scale are found to greatly depend on the location of sodium ions. Electrochemical testing of the pre-sodiated MXene as an electrode material in a sodium-ion capacitor shows excellent reversibility and promising performance, indicating the feasibility of chemical preintercalation as an approach to prepare MXene electrodes for ion capacitors.