Domains and domain walls are among the key factors that determine the performance of ferroelectric materials. In recent years, a unique type of domain walls, i.e., the sawtooth-shaped domain walls, has been observed in BiFeO3 and PbTiO3. Here, we build a minimal model to reveal the origin of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Incorporating this model into Monte Carlo simulations shows that (i) the competition between the long-range Coulomb interaction (due to bound charges) and short-range interaction (due to opposite dipoles) is responsible for the formation of these peculiar domain walls and (ii) their relative strength is critical in determining the periodicity of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Necessary conditions to form such domain walls are also discussed.
%0 Journal Article
%1 PhysRevB.101.060103
%A Zhang, J.
%A Wang, Y.-J.
%A Liu, J.
%A Xu, J.
%A Wang, D.
%A Wang, L.
%A Ma, X.-L.
%A Jia, C.-L.
%A Bellaiche, L.
%D 2020
%I American Physical Society
%J Phys. Rev. B
%K BiFeO3 charged_domain-walls charged_domain_walls theory
%N 6
%P 060103
%R 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.060103
%T Origin of sawtooth domain walls in ferroelectrics
%U https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.060103
%V 101
%X Domains and domain walls are among the key factors that determine the performance of ferroelectric materials. In recent years, a unique type of domain walls, i.e., the sawtooth-shaped domain walls, has been observed in BiFeO3 and PbTiO3. Here, we build a minimal model to reveal the origin of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Incorporating this model into Monte Carlo simulations shows that (i) the competition between the long-range Coulomb interaction (due to bound charges) and short-range interaction (due to opposite dipoles) is responsible for the formation of these peculiar domain walls and (ii) their relative strength is critical in determining the periodicity of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Necessary conditions to form such domain walls are also discussed.
@article{PhysRevB.101.060103,
abstract = {Domains and domain walls are among the key factors that determine the performance of ferroelectric materials. In recent years, a unique type of domain walls, i.e., the sawtooth-shaped domain walls, has been observed in BiFeO3 and PbTiO3. Here, we build a minimal model to reveal the origin of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Incorporating this model into Monte Carlo simulations shows that (i) the competition between the long-range Coulomb interaction (due to bound charges) and short-range interaction (due to opposite dipoles) is responsible for the formation of these peculiar domain walls and (ii) their relative strength is critical in determining the periodicity of these sawtooth-shaped domain walls. Necessary conditions to form such domain walls are also discussed.},
added-at = {2021-10-25T12:41:03.000+0200},
author = {Zhang, J. and Wang, Y.-J. and Liu, J. and Xu, J. and Wang, D. and Wang, L. and Ma, X.-L. and Jia, C.-L. and Bellaiche, L.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/28469f32f6eb42ce5114c9bb520e2d300/skoerbel},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.101.060103},
interhash = {657542ce7f480c0235ce13c042a2f13c},
intrahash = {8469f32f6eb42ce5114c9bb520e2d300},
journal = {Phys. Rev. B},
keywords = {BiFeO3 charged_domain-walls charged_domain_walls theory},
month = feb,
number = 6,
numpages = {7},
pages = 060103,
publisher = {American Physical Society},
timestamp = {2021-10-25T12:41:03.000+0200},
title = {Origin of sawtooth domain walls in ferroelectrics},
url = {https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.060103},
volume = 101,
year = 2020
}