Condensed Matter Physics Commons^™

Study Of Static And Dynamical Properties Of Complex Antiferroelectrics Materials, Kinnary Yogeshbhai Patel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation is the investigation of the static and dynamical properties of the complex antiferroelectric materials using Effective Hamiltonian method and First principles calculations. In chapter 3, a novel elemental interatomic coupling in perovskite materials which bilinearly couples the antiferroelectric displacements of cations with the rotations of the oxygen octahedra. This new coupling explains a very complex crystal structure of prototypical antiferroelectric PbZrO3. My explanation provides a unified description of many other complex antipolar crystal structures in variety of perovskite materials, including the occurrence of incommensurate phases in some of them. In chapter 4, results and analysis …

The Effects Of Strain And Vacancies On The Electric And Vibrational Properties Of Ferroelectric Batio3 From First-Principles, Aldo Serge Michael Raeliarijaona

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The studies of ferroelectricity (FE) are of technological significance because of the multitude of applicable properties that ferroelectric materials exhibit. The mastery, and control of these properties necessitate the knowledge of the fundamental physics governing these insulating materials.

In this dissertation I present the results of first-principles investigations of the behavior of the fundamental ferroelectric properties under strain, and in the presence of vacancies. In the first part I introduce the important FE properties, their common behavior, and their numerous valuable applications. Following this background on FEs, a review of theoretical methods is presented with topics such as: Density Functional …

The Soft Mode Driven Dynamics Of Ferroelectric Perovskites At The Nanoscale: An Atomistic Study, Kevin Mccash

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The discovery of ferroelectricity at the nanoscale has incited a lot of interest in perovskite ferroelectrics not only for their potential in device application but also for their potential to expand fundamental understanding of complex phenomena at very small size scales. Unfortunately, not much is known about the dynamics of ferroelectrics at this scale. Many of the widely held theories for ferroelectric materials are based on bulk dynamics which break down when applied to smaller scales. In an effort to increase understanding of nanoscale ferroelectric materials we use atomistic resolution computational simulations to investigate the dynamics of polar perovskites. Within …

Properties Of Multiferroic Bifeo3 From First Principles, Dovran Rahmedov

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, a first-principle-based approach is developed to study magnetoelectric effect in multiferoic materials. Such approach has a significant predictive power and might serve as a guide to new experimental works. As we will discuss in the course of this work, it also gives an important insight to the underlying physics behind the experimentally observed phenomena.

We start by applying our method to investigate properties of a generic multiferroic material. We observe how magnetic susceptibility of such materials evolves with temperature and compare this evolution with the characteristic behavior of magnetic susceptibility for pure magnetic systems. Then we focus …

Electron Irradiation Effects On Ferroelectric Copolymer Langmuir-Blodgett Films, Christina M. Othon, Stephen Ducharme

Christina M Othon

The effect of irradiation on the ferroelectric properties of Langmuir-Blodgett films of the copolymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethelene) is investigating using 1.26 MeV electrons with dosages from 16 to 110 Mrad. Irradiation causes a systematic decrease in the phase transition temperature, coercive field and polarization of these thin films.

Modeling Of Metal-Ferroelectric-Insulator-Semiconductor Structures Based On Langmuir–Blodgett Copolymer Films, Timothy J. Reece, Stephen Ducharme

Stephen Ducharme Publications

Among the ferroelectric thin films used in field-effect transistor devices; the ferroelectric copolymer of polyvinylidene fluoride PVDF –CH2–CF2–, with trifluoroethylene TrFE –CHF–CF2–, has distinct advantages, including low dielectric constant, low processing temperature, low cost, and compatibility with organic semiconductors. The operation of a metal-ferroelectric insulatorsemiconductor structure with PVDF-TrFE as the ferroelectric layer was analyzed and optimized by numerical solution of the Miller and McWhorter model. A model device consisting of 20 nm PVDF/TrFE on a 10-nm-thick high-k dielectric buffer exhibits a memory window of 5 V with an operating voltage of 15 V. The operating voltage can be reduced to …

Nanoscale Domain Patterns In Ultrathin Polymer Ferroelectric Films, Pankaj Sharma, Timothy J. Reece, Daniel W. Wu, Vladimir M. Fridkin, Stephen Ducharme, Alexei Gruverman

Stephen Ducharme Publications

High-resolution studies of domain configurations in Langmuir–Blodgett films of ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene), P(VDF-TrFE), have been carried out by means of piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). Changes in film thickness and morphology cause significant variations in polarization patterns. In continuous films and nanomesas with relatively low thickness/grain aspect ratio (<1/10), the relationship between the average domain size and thickness follows the Kittel law. Nanomesas with high aspect ratio (>1/5) exhibit significant deviations from this law, suggesting additional surface-energy-related mechanisms affecting the domain patterns. Polarization reversal within a single crystallite has been demonstrated and local switching parameters (coercive voltage and remnant piezoresponse) have been measured by monitoring the local hysteresis loops. Reliable control of polarization at the sub-grain level demonstrates …

Polarization Switching Kinetics Of Ferroelectric Nanomesas Of Vinylidene Fluoride-Trifluoroethylene Copolymer, R. V. Gaynutdinov, O. A. Lysova, S. G. Yudin, A. L. Tolstikhina, A. L. Kholkin, V. M. Fridkin, Stephen Ducharme

Stephen Ducharme Publications

The polarization switching kinetics of ferroelectric polymer nanomesas was investigated using piezoresponse force microscopy. The nanomesas were made by self-organization from Langmuir–Blodgett films of a 70% vinylidene fluoride and 30% trifluoroethylene copolymer. The polarization switching time exhibits an exponential dependence on reciprocal voltage that is consistent with nucleation-type switching dynamics.

Size-Driven Domain Reorientation In Hydrothermally Derived Lead Titanate Nanoparticles, Zhiyuan Ye, Elliot B. Slamovich, Alexander H. King

Alexander H. King

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.

Investigation Of Ferroelectricity In Newly Synthesized Nitrile Polymer Systems, Matt Poulsen, Stephen Ducharme, Alexander V. Sorokin, Sahadeva Reddy, James M. Takacs, Y. Wen, Jihee Kim, Shireen Adenwalla

Stephen Ducharme Publications

The ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of newly synthesized polymer systems have been studied. To date PVDF and its copolymers P(VDF-TrFE) have provided the bulk of the knowledge pertaining to ferroelectricity in polymers. Recently, ultrathin ferroelectric films of P(VDF-TrFE) 70:30 have been fabricated using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique [4]. In this study, various new polymers have been synthesized by chemically altering the PVDF structure. This alteration was performed in order to enhance the amphiphilic nature of the polymer and thus improve the LB film quality and control. Various chemical groups have been used to replace the electropositive hydrogen and electronegative fluorine found …

Mapping Surface Polarization In Thin Films Of The Ferroelectric Polymer P(Vdf-Trfe)., Bradley W. Peterson, Stephen Ducharme, Vladimir M. Fridkin, Timothy J. Reece

Stephen Ducharme Publications

Pyroelectric Scanning Microscopy (PSM) has been developed to enable mapping of surface polarization in ferroelectric thin films, in particular the copolymer polyvinylidene fluoride trifluororethylene, or P(VDF-TrFE). The Chynoweth method for dynamically measuring pyroelectric current is employed in conjunction with a micropositioning system to construct two-dimensional images of the film polarization. These images have revealed enhancement of the polarization near the edges of the film below the average coercive field, with the center's polarization increasing thereafter to meet the edge value at saturation.

Electron Irradiation Effects On Ferroelectric Copolymer Langmuir-Blodgett Films, Christina M. Othon, Stephen Ducharme

Stephen Ducharme Publications

The effect of irradiation on the ferroelectric properties of Langmuir-Blodgett films of the copolymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluorethelene) is investigating using 1.26 MeV electrons with dosages from 16 to 110 Mrad. Irradiation causes a systematic decrease in the phase transition temperature, coercive field and polarization of these thin films.

Comment On: 'Depolarization Corrections To The Coercive Field In Thin-Film Ferroelectrics', Stephen Ducharme, Vladimir Fridkin

Stephen Ducharme Publications

The Letter by Dawber et al. [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 15 L393 (2003)] notes that incomplete screening in the electrodes of a ferroelectric capacitor can result in an underestimate for the true coercive field in films of nanometer thickness. We show that their estimate of the magnitude of this correction it too large in the case of ferroelectric copolymer Langmuir- Blodgett films and, as a result, invalidates the claim that finite-size scaling of the ferroelectric coercive field is evident in films thinner than 15 nm.