Domain configurations due to multiple misfit relaxation mechanisms in epitaxial ferroelectric thin films. II. Experimental verification and implications

In part I, the concept of a temperature dependent domain stability map was developed for tetragonal ferroelectrics grown on cubic substrates. In this paper, a range of experimental data on domain populations in heteroepitaxial ferroelectric films is placed in the context of the stability map. Experimental data shows that differential thermal expansion, cooling rate, and applied electric fields may be effectively used to control domain structure, particularly in the system PZT, PZT/YBCO/LaAlO3, and LSCO/PLZT/LSCO/LaAlO3. It will be shown that misfit dislocations generated during growth screen the majority of the lattice mismatch with the substrate. Thus, the variety of domain patterns that develop during the Curie transition depend on processing parameters and can be successfully explained by applying the temperature dependent coherent domain stability map developed in part I.