Investigating Effect of Strain and Geometric Defects on Single Polarization Vortex in PbTiO3 Nanowires

The single polarization vortex structure in nanowire can be used to store binary data in Non-Volatile Ferroelectric Random Access Memories (NVFRAM or FRAM). However, at the nanoscale, mechanical strains or geometry defects (cracks) can affect the polarization vortex and they are one of the reasons to reduce the service life as well as the reliability of the device. In this study, the atomic simulation method using the interactive potential function based on the core-shell model is selected to investigate the effects of strain, cracks and domain wall deviations (DW) on the single polarization vortex in PbTiO3 (PTO) nanowires. The results obtained showed that the polarization vortex can appear or disappear depending on the position and size of the crack. Deviations in the DW position make the polarization vortex change the size and shape. Besides, the magnitude of the vortex investigated increases under tension strain and decreases under compression strain. Especially, in large compression strain (10%), the vortex can be disappeared.

Enhancement of piezoelectric properties of lithium niobate thin films by different annealing parameters

Piezoelectric materials with useful properties find a wide range of applications including opto- and acousto- electronics. Lithium niobate in the form of a thin film is one of those promising materials and has a potential to improve ferroelectric random access memories devices, optical waveguides or acoustic delay lines by virtue of its physical characteristics, e.g. electro-optic coefficient, acoustic velocity, refractive indices etc. The key challenge to overcome is lithium nonstoichiometry as it leads to the appearance of parasite phases and thus aggravates physical and structural properties of a film. According to literature data, in order to obtain microcrystalline piezoelectric phase in previously amorphous films a set of methods is used. In our case we tried to synthesize LN films using congruent target and non-heated silicon substrate and then attain the piezoelectric phase by different annealing parameters. Afterwards LN films were compared to the ones synthesized on the silicon substrate with an additional buffer layer of platinum. Samples were studied by scanning probe microscope. Self-polarization vectors were defined. Based on domain structure images, the histograms of distribution of piezoresponse signals were built.

Insight into the Structural, Electrical, and Magnetic Properties of Al-Substituted BiFeO3 Synthesised by the Sol–Gel Method

Multiferroics with chemical formula BiAlxFe1−xO3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) and substituted by Al are synthesised using sol–gel auto-combustion. The materials are sintered at 500 °C for 5 h. In the ongoing study, the crystal structure of BiAlxFe1−xO3 was investigated by X-ray diffraction. After confirming the rhombohedral single-phase crystal structure, various characterisation techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, elemental mapping images, electrical properties, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), were used to investigate the synthesised samples. The grain size estimated from SEM images decreased as Al contents increased. Elemental composition was confirmed by EDX spectra. Direct current electrical resistivity increased whereas drift mobility decreased with increasing Al contents. The VSM results of Al-doped BiFeO3 (BFO) demonstrate that BFO crystals with size >60 nm show anti-ferromagnetic behaviour, which is evident in the present study. The increase in Al doping results in an increase in coercivity, as grain size and coercivity are inversely related with each other. This is because of the replacement of Fe3+ by Al3+ ions, which weakens the sub-lattice interactions. It has been observed that BFO materials with such parameters are favourable for ferroelectric random access memories where data can be written electrically and read magnetically.

Voltage pulse controlling multilevel data ferroelectric storage memory with a nonepitaxial ultrathin film

Multilevel data ferroelectric storage memory is a breakthrough for addressing low density in ferroelectric random access memories.

Aurivillius BaBi4Ti4O15 based compounds: Structure, synthesis and properties

The discovery of some Aurivillius materials with high Curie temperature or fatigue-free character suggests possible applications in high temperature piezoelectric devices or non-volatile ferroelectric random access memories. Furthermore, increasing concerns for environmental issues have promoted the study of new leadfree piezoelectric materials. Barium bismuth titanate (BaBi4Ti4O15 ), an Aurivillius compound, is promising candidate to replace lead-based materials, both as lead-free ferroelectric and high temperature piezoelectric. In this review paper, we report a detailed overview of crystal structure, different synthesis methods and characteristic properties of barium bismuth titanate ferroelectric materials.