PNNL

Abstract

Ferroelectric superlattice heterostructures have recently been explored for potential applications in electronic devices. In this letter we employed the phase-field approach to simulate the domain structure and switching of a (BaTiO3)8/(SrTiO3)3 superlattice film constrained by a GdScO3 substrate. A constricted ferroelectric hysteresis loop was observed with a high saturation polarization but a small coercive field. The shape of the hysteresis loop is understood by analyzing the ferroelectric polarization distributions during switching. It is demonstrated that the multilayers stack behave as dipole spring ferroelectric, named in analogy to exchange spring magnets in magnetic multilayers that show similar loops.