Epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 ultrathin films under open-circuit electrical boundary conditions

Abstract

The temperature-versus-misfit-strain phase diagram of Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 ultrathin films under open-circuit electrical boundary conditions is simulated via the use of an effective Hamiltonian. Two novel phases, both exhibiting dipolar nanodomains and oxygen octahedral tilting, are discovered. The interplay between dipolar, antiferrodistortive, alloying, and strain degrees of freedom induces several striking features in these two phases, such as the chemical pinning of domain walls, the enhancement of oxygen octahedral tilting near the domain walls, and the existence of dipolar waves and cylindrical dipolar chiral bubbles. © 2011 American Physical Society.