Exchange‐Interaction‐Like Behavior in Ferroelectric Bilayers

Abstract

Interlayer coupling in materials, such as exchange interactions at the interface between an antiferromagnet and a ferromagnet, can produce exotic phenomena not present in the parent materials. While such interfacial coupling in magnetic systems is widely studied, there is considerably less work on analogous electric counterparts (i.e., akin to electric “exchange‐bias‐like” or “exchange‐spring‐like” interactions between two polar materials) despite the likelihood that such effects can also engender new features associated with anisotropic electric dipole alignment. Here, electric analogs of such exchange interactions are reported, and their physical origins are explained for bilayers of in‐plane polarized Pb1−xSrxTiO3 ferroelectrics. Variation of the strontium content and thickness of the layers provides for deterministic control over the switching properties of the bilayer system resulting in phenomena analogous to an exchange‐spring interaction and, leveraging added control of these interactions with an electric field, the ability to realize multistate‐memory function. Such observations not only hold technological promise for ferroelectrics and multiferroics but also extend the similarities between ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials to include the manifestation of exchange‐interaction‐like phenomena.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 23, 2023
Source ID
10.1002/adma.202301934

Entities

People

  • Aiden Ross
  • Ching‐che Lin
  • Eric Parsonnet
  • Jacob A. Zorn
  • Lane W Martin
  • Long‐qing Chen
  • Lucas Caretta
  • Piush Behera
  • Pravin Kavle
  • Xiaoxi Huang

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Brown University
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Office of Basic Energy Sciences
  • Office of Science
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • United States Department of Energy
  • University of California

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Theoretical Analysis.