Back to Search
Start Over
Surface Pyroelectricity in Cubic SrTiO3
- Source :
- Meirzadeh , E , Christensen , D V , Makagon , E , Cohen , H , Rosenhek-Goldian , I , Morales , E H , Bhowmik , A , Lastra , J M G , Rappe , A M , Ehre , D , Lahav , M , Pryds , N & Lubomirsky , I 2019 , ' Surface Pyroelectricity in Cubic SrTiO 3 ' , Advanced Materials , vol. 31 , no. 44 , 1904733 .
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Symmetry-imposed restrictions on the number of available pyroelectric and piezoelectric materials remain a major limitation as 22 out of 32 crystallographic material classes exhibit neither pyroelectricity nor piezoelectricity. Yet, by breaking the lattice symmetry it is possible to circumvent this limitation. Here, using a unique technique for measuring transient currents upon rapid heating, direct experimental evidence is provided that despite the fact that bulk SrTiO3 is not pyroelectric, the (100) surface of TiO2 -terminated SrTiO3 is intrinsically pyroelectric at room temperature. The pyroelectric layer is found to be ≈1 nm thick and, surprisingly, its polarization is comparable with that of strongly polar materials such as BaTiO3. The pyroelectric effect can be tuned ON/OFF by the formation or removal of a nanometric SiO2 layer. Using density functional theory, the pyroelectricity is found to be a result of polar surface relaxation, which can be suppressed by varying the lattice symmetry breaking using a SiO2 capping layer. The observation of pyroelectricity emerging at the SrTiO3 surface also implies that it is intrinsically piezoelectric. These findings may pave the way for observing and tailoring piezo- and pyroelectricity in any material through appropriate breaking of symmetry at surfaces and artificial nanostructures such as heterointerfaces and superlattices.
Details
- Database :
- OAIster
- Journal :
- Meirzadeh , E , Christensen , D V , Makagon , E , Cohen , H , Rosenhek-Goldian , I , Morales , E H , Bhowmik , A , Lastra , J M G , Rappe , A M , Ehre , D , Lahav , M , Pryds , N & Lubomirsky , I 2019 , ' Surface Pyroelectricity in Cubic SrTiO 3 ' , Advanced Materials , vol. 31 , no. 44 , 1904733 .
- Notes :
- application/pdf, English
- Publication Type :
- Electronic Resource
- Accession number :
- edsoai.on1248605036
- Document Type :
- Electronic Resource