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- Title
An antisite defect mechanism for room temperature ferroelectricity in orthoferrites.
- Authors
Ning, Shuai; Kumar, Abinash; Klyukin, Konstantin; Cho, Eunsoo; Kim, Jong Heon; Su, Tingyu; Kim, Hyun-Suk; LeBeau, James M.; Yildiz, Bilge; Ross, Caroline A.
- Abstract
Single-phase multiferroic materials that allow the coexistence of ferroelectric and magnetic ordering above room temperature are highly desirable, motivating an ongoing search for mechanisms for unconventional ferroelectricity in magnetic oxides. Here, we report an antisite defect mechanism for room temperature ferroelectricity in epitaxial thin films of yttrium orthoferrite, YFeO3, a perovskite-structured canted antiferromagnet. A combination of piezoresponse force microscopy, atomically resolved elemental mapping with aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and density functional theory calculations reveals that the presence of YFe antisite defects facilitates a non-centrosymmetric distortion promoting ferroelectricity. This mechanism is predicted to work analogously for other rare earth orthoferrites, with a dependence of the polarization on the radius of the rare earth cation. Our work uncovers the distinctive role of antisite defects in providing a mechanism for ferroelectricity in a range of magnetic orthoferrites and further augments the functionality of this family of complex oxides for multiferroic applications. Ferroelectricity in orthoferrite perovskites has stimulated intense research, but the mechanism remains unclear. Here, the authors propose an antisite defect mechanism for introducing ferroelectricity in magnetically ordered YFeO3 and the family of rare earth orthoferrites.
- Subjects
ANTISITE defects; FERROELECTRICITY; LEAD titanate; COPPER oxide films; SCANNING transmission electron microscopy; PIEZORESPONSE force microscopy; FERROELECTRIC polymers; RARE earth oxides
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2021, Vol 12, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-021-24592-w