Phase transitions, domain structure, and pseudosymmetry in La- and Ti-doped BiFeO3

KHESRO, Amir, BOSTON, Rebecca, STERIANOU, Iasmi, SINCLAIR, Derek C. and REANEY, Ian M. (2016). Phase transitions, domain structure, and pseudosymmetry in La- and Ti-doped BiFeO3. Journal of Applied Physics, 119 (5), 054101.

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Official URL: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jap/1...
Link to published version:: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4940391

Abstract

The phase transitions and domain structure of the promising PbO-free solid solution series, (0.95-x)BiFeO3-xLaFeO3-0.05La2/3TiO3, were investigated. X ray diffraction(XRD) revealed a transition from a ferroelectricR3c to a PbZrO3-like (Pbam) antiferroelectric (AFE) structure at x = 0.15 followed by a transition to a paraelectric (PE, Pnma) phase at x > 0.30. The ferroelastic/ferroelectric twin domain width decreased to 10–20 nm with increasing x as the AFE phase boundary was approached but coherent antiphase tilted domains were an order of magnitude greater. This domain structure suggested the local symmetry (20 nm) is lower than the average structure (R3c, a−a−a−) of the tilted regions. The PE phase (x = 0.35) exhibited a dominant a−a−c+ tilt system with Pnma symmetry but diffuse reflections at ∼1/4{ooe} positions suggest that short range antipolar order is residual in the PE phase. The complex domain structure and phase assemblage of this system challenge the conventional interpretation of phase transitions based on macroscopic symmetry. Instead, it supports the notion that frustration driven by chemical distributions at the nanometric level influences the local or pseudo-symmetry as well as the domain structure, with XRD giving only the average macroscopic structure.

Item Type: Article
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: Materials and Engineering Research Institute > Modelling Research Centre > Microsystems and Machine Vision Laboratory
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4940391
Page Range: 054101
Depositing User: Iasmi Sterianou
Date Deposited: 08 Mar 2016 14:46
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 06:48
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/11670

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