Collaborative Research: U.S.-Ireland R&D Partnership Antiferroelectricity, Ferrielectricity and Ferroelectricity in the Archetypal Antiferroelectric PbZrO3 at Small Scale

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY

With support from the Ceramics Program in NSF’s Division of Materials Research, this collaborative effort, between two US-based institutions and two European counterparts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, attempts to better understand material functionalities from milli- and centi-meter to nano-meter length scales. Specifically, this project will address the nanoscale organization of electrical dipoles in oxides that can collectively lead to presence or absence of switchable polarization at larger length scales.

When successful, this research will enable the next-generation micro- and nano-scale high-force and high-displacement actuators and transducers, ultrahigh energy storage devices, miniaturized voltage regulators, solid-state cooling, electro-optic and electronic devices. Example application areas include next-generation remote-controlled robotic devices in healthcare (including micro-surgery), manufacturing, agriculture, disaster management, health and rescue operations, and compact lightweight aerospace applications.

Additionally, the close collaboration of team members, with expertise spanning processing, advanced characterization methods and materials theory, will result in an unsurpassed and rounded learning experience for the students involved in this research. The training of the students and young researchers during this program will result in skilled human capital, suited to either continue advanced research or make a valuable impact in related industries.

TECHNICAL SUMMARY

The overarching goal of this work, supported by the Ceramics Program in NSF’s Division of Materials Research, is to advance the fundamental understanding of antiferroelectricity in PbZrO3 thin films and nanostructures, through multipronged theoretical and experimental studies of nanoscale polarization. Specifically, this work will correlate microscopic structural changes with macroscopic properties in this archetypal antiferroelectric, exploring the stability of classical antiferroelectric (AFE), ferrielectric (FiE), and ferroelectric (FE) behavior in PbZrO3 thin films and nanostructures as a function of: (1) thickness reduction with distributed residual stress/strain profiles; (2) size confinement resulting in a range of surface-to-volume ratios with reduced lateral constraint; and (3) crystallographic orientation of the films, where a large inherent anisotropy in the material might result in different stabilization criteria and hence, different critical parameters (external electric fields, temperature, size) for transitions between AFE, FiE and FE behaviors.

In parallel, theoretical efforts will evaluate material behavior at increasing size from the nanoscale, offering insights into transition(s) from the nanoscale-stable ferroelectric phase, to an (intermediate) ferrielectric phase, to the macroscale and bulk-stable and archetypal antiferroelectric one. The training of the students and young researchers during this program will result in skilled human capital, suited to either continue advanced research or make a valuable impact in related industries.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.