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Wurtzite-type ferroelectrics are highly promising for next-generation microelectronic devices due to their ferroelectric properties and integration with exiting semiconductors. However, their high coercive fields, which are close to breakdown electric fields, need to be lowered. To deal with this issue and secure device reliability, much effort has been devoted to exploring novel wurtzite compounds with lower polarization switching barriers and implementing doping strategies. Here, we report first-principles calculations on polarization switching in cation-vacancy ordered wurtzite {\alpha}-Al2S3, unveiling its uniaxial quadruple-well ferroelectricity and moderate switching barrier, 51 meV/cation, which is much lower than that of conventional wurtzite ferroelectrics. There are three important features relevant to the Al vacancies leading to the uncommon quadruple-well ferroelectricity and the moderate switching barrier: mitigation of cation-cation repulsion, structural flexibility that alleviates an in-plane lattice expansion, and formation of {\sigma}-like bonding states consisting of Al 3pz and S 3pz orbitals. Biaxial compressive strain and Ga doping lower the switching barriers by up to 40%. This study encourages experimental investigation of the ferroelectric properties for defective wurtzite {\alpha}-Al2S3 as a new promising material with unconventional and intriguing ferroelectricity and suggests a potential strategy for reducing switching barriers in wurtzite ferroelectrics: introducing cation vacancies., Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures

Unstable zone-boundary phonon modes drive atomic displacements linked to a rich array of properties. Yet, the electronic origin of the instability remains to be clearly explained. Here, we propose that bonding interaction between Bloch states belonging to different wavevectors leads to such instability via the pseudo- or second-order Jahn--Teller effect. Our first-principles calculations and representation theory-based analyses show that rotations of anion coordinated octahedra, an archetypal example of zone-boundary phonon condensations, are induced by this bonding mechanism. The proposed mechanism is universal to any non-zone-center phonon condensations and could offer a general approach to understand the origin of structural phase transitions in crystals., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; typo corrected

Crystallography and dielectric properties in Dion-Jacobson layered perovskites, CsNdNb$_2$O$_7$ and RbNdNb$_2$O$_7$, have been examined in dense polycrystalline samples, and polarization hysteresis loops that substantiate ferroelectricity have been observed at room temperature. The theoretical mechanism for the spontaneous polarization, "hybrid improper ferroelectric mechanism,'' induced by a combination of two types of non-polar octahedral rotations, is confirmed in these two phases. Our samples show remanent polarizations of 2-3 $\mu$C/cm$^2$, which are much larger than those obtained in polycrystalline samples with the hybrid improper ferroelectricity reported so far. A dielectric constant in CsNdNb$_2$O$_7$ exhibits an anomaly at 625 K, corresponding to the ferroelectric transition, as previously revealed by x-ray and neutron diffractometry. No dielectric anomaly is observed for RbNdNb$_2$O$_7$ throughout the temperature range studied here ($\leq$ 773 K), which is consistent with the previous diffractometry showing the persistence of polar $I2cm$ symmetry up to 790 K., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication by JJAP

Physical systems evolve from one state to another along paths of least energy barrier. Without a priori knowledge of the energy landscape, multidimensional search methods aim to find such minimum energy pathways between the initial and final states of a kinetic process. However in many cases, the user has to repeatedly provide initial guess paths, thus ensuring that the reliability of the final result is heavily user-dependent. Recently, the idea of "distortion symmetry groups" as a complete description of the symmetry of a path has been introduced. Through this, a new framework is enabled that provides a powerful means of classifying the infinite collection of possible pathways into a finite number of symmetry equivalent subsets, and then exploring each of these subsets systematically using rigorous group theoretical methods. The method is shown to lead to the discovery of new, previously hidden pathways for the case studies of bulk ferroelectric switching and domain wall motion in proper and improper ferroelectrics, as well as in multiferroic switching. This approach is applicable to a wide variety of physical phenomena ranging from structural, electronic and magnetic distortions, diffusion, and phase transitions in materials.

Polar metals, commonly defined by the coexistence of polar crystal structure and metallicity, are thought to be scarce because the long-range electrostatic fields favoring the polar structure are expected to be fully screened by the conduction electrons of a metal. Moreover, reducing from three to two dimensions, it remains an open question whether a polar metal can exist. Here we report on the realization of a room temperature two-dimensional polar metal of the B-site type in tri-color (tri-layer) superlattices BaTiO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$/LaTiO$_3$. A combination of atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy with electron energy loss spectroscopy, optical second harmonic generation, electrical transport, and first-principles calculations have revealed the microscopic mechanisms of periodic electric polarization, charge distribution, and orbital symmetry. Our results provide a route to creating all-oxide artificial non-centrosymmetric quasi-two-dimensional metals with exotic quantum states including coexisting ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, and superconducting phases.