TY - JOUR
KW - Electric potential
KW - Oxide
KW - Geometry
KW - Room temperature
KW - Zirconium
KW - Polarization
KW - Unclassified drug
KW - Electric field
KW - Symmetry
KW - Article
KW - Titanium
KW - Ferroic oxide
KW - Curie point
KW - Light effect
KW - Physical property
KW - Electrical equipment
KW - Optical rotation
KW - Optoelectronic device
AU - C Becher
AU - M Trassin
AU - M Lilienblum
AU - C.T Nelson
AU - S.J Suresha
AU - D Yi
AU - P Yu
AU - Ramamoorthy Ramesh
AU - M Fiebig
AU - D Meier
AB - The relation between symmetry and functionality was pinpointed by Pierre Curie who stated that it is the symmetry breaking that creates physical properties. This fundamental principle is nowadays used for engineering heterostructures whose integral symmetry leads to exotic phenomena such as one-way transparency. For switching devices, however, such symmetry-related functionalities cannot be used because the symmetry in conventional heterostructures is immutable once the material has been synthesized. Here we demonstrate a concept for post-growth symmetry control in PbZr 0.2Ti0.8O3 and BiFeO 3 -based heterostructures. A conducting oxide is sandwiched between two ferroelectric layers, and inversion symmetry is reversibly switched on or off by layer-selective electric-field poling. The generalization of our approach to other materials and symmetries is discussed. We thus establish ferroic trilayer structures as device components with reversibly tunable symmetry and demonstrate their use as light emitters that can be activated and deactivated by applying moderate electric voltages. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
BT - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/ncomms5295
LA - eng
N1 - cited By 8
N2 - The relation between symmetry and functionality was pinpointed by Pierre Curie who stated that it is the symmetry breaking that creates physical properties. This fundamental principle is nowadays used for engineering heterostructures whose integral symmetry leads to exotic phenomena such as one-way transparency. For switching devices, however, such symmetry-related functionalities cannot be used because the symmetry in conventional heterostructures is immutable once the material has been synthesized. Here we demonstrate a concept for post-growth symmetry control in PbZr 0.2Ti0.8O3 and BiFeO 3 -based heterostructures. A conducting oxide is sandwiched between two ferroelectric layers, and inversion symmetry is reversibly switched on or off by layer-selective electric-field poling. The generalization of our approach to other materials and symmetries is discussed. We thus establish ferroic trilayer structures as device components with reversibly tunable symmetry and demonstrate their use as light emitters that can be activated and deactivated by applying moderate electric voltages. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
PB - Nature Publishing Group
PY - 2014
T2 - Nature Communications
TI - Functional ferroic heterostructures with tunable integral symmetry
VL - 5
SN - 20411723
ER -