Scientific Reports (Jul 2017)

Long-range Stripe Nanodomains in Epitaxial (110) BiFeO3 Thin Films on (100) NdGaO3 Substrate

  • Yogesh Sharma,
  • Radhe Agarwal,
  • Charudatta Phatak,
  • Bumsoo Kim,
  • Seokwoo Jeon,
  • Ram S. Katiyar,
  • Seungbum Hong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05055-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract Here, we report the observation of ferroelectric and ferroelastic nanodomains in (110)-oriented BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films epitaxially grown on low symmetric (100) NdGaO3 (NGO) substrate. We observed long range ordering of ferroelectric 109° stripe nanodomains separated by periodic vertical domain walls in as-grown 130 nm thick BFO films. The effect of La0.67Sr0.33CoO3 (LSCO) conducting interlayer on domain configurations in BFO/NGO film was also observed with relatively short range-ordering of stripe domains due to the modified electrostatic boundary conditions in BFO/LSCO/NGO film. Additional studies on B-site doping of Nb ions in BFO films showed change in the domain structures due to doping induced change in lattice anisotropy while maintaining the stripe domain morphology with 109° domain wall. This long-range array of ferroelectric and ferroelastic domains can be useful for optoelectronic devices and ferroelastic templates for strain coupled artificial magnetoelectric heterostructures.