Manipulating phase transitions in lead-free ferroelectricheterostructures and membranes
Complex oxides are fascinating materials, exhibiting diverse electrical, magnetic, optical, and thermal properties. Advances in atomic-scale epitaxy have enabled the fabrication of high-quality epitaxial oxide heterostructures and membranes, offering exciting opportunities to explore and manipulate emerging phase transitions and functionalities. In this presentation, I will use sodium niobates as a model system to illustrate how complex oxide heterostructures and membranes can be tuned through external stimuli—such as strain, electric fields, and size effects—to induce novel ferroic orders with enhanced ferroelectric and dielectric properties. I will discuss a strain-induced emergent phase boundary in sodium niobate heterostructures, where competing structural phases give rise to large polarization and enhanced susceptibilities. I will also highlight an intrinsic size-driven antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric transition in freestanding sodium niobate membranes.
Host: Aaron Sternbach
Refreshments at 1:30 pm - 1117 John S. Toll Bldg