Size-driven domain reorientation in hydrothermally derived lead titanate nanoparticles

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies of hydrothermally derived platelike lead titanate nanoparticles reveal that below a critical size of approximately 70 nm, the single ferroelectric domain polarization axis reorients from perpendicular to parallel to the plate. We suggest that during particle growth, ions in the hydrothermal processing medium compensate for the ferroelectric depolarization energy. When the processing medium is removed by washing and drying, single domain nanoparticles minimize their depolarization energy by c-axis flipping.