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A strain-driven morphotropic phase boundary in bifeO3

Publication Type

Journal Article

Authors

Zeches, R.J., M.D. Rossell, J.X. Zhang, A.J. Hatt, Q. He, C.-H. Yang, A. Kumar, C.H. Wang, A. Melville, C. Adamo, G. Sheng, Y.-H. Chu, J.F. Ihlefeld, R. Erni, C. Ederer, V. Gopalan, L.Q. Chen, D.G. Schldin, N.A. Spaldin, L.W. Martin, Ramamoorthy Ramesh

DOI

10.1126/science.1177046

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials, which convert mechanical to electrical energy and vice versa, are typically characterized by the intimate coexistence of two phases across a morphotropic phase boundary. Electrically switching one to the other yields large electromechanical coupling coefficients. Driven by global environmental concerns, there is currently a strong push to discover practical lead-free piezoelectrics for device engineering. Using a combination of epitaxial growth techniques in conjunction with theoretical approaches, we show the formation of a morphotropic phase boundary through epitaxial constraint in lead-free piezoelectric bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) films. Electric field-dependent studies show that a tetragonal-like phase can be reversibly converted into a rhombohedral-like phase, accompanied by measurable displacements of the surface, making this new lead-free system of interest for probe-based data storage and actuator applications.

Journal

Science

Volume

326

Year of Publication

2009

ISSN

00368075

Notes

cited By 780

Research Areas

Ramesh Lab