Colossal Electromechanical Response in Antiferroelectric-based Nanoscale Multilayers.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40007069.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/adma.202419690.
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Abstract
The pursuit of smaller, energy-efficient devices drives the exploration of electromechanically active thin films (<1 µm) to enable micro- and nano-electromechanical systems. While the electromechanical response of such films is limited by substrate-induced mechanical clamping, large electromechanical responses in antiferroelectric and multilayer thin-film heterostructures have garnered interest. Here, multilayer thin-film heterostructures based on antiferroelectric PbHfO<sub>3</sub> and ferroelectric PbHf<sub>1-x</sub>Ti<sub>x</sub>O<sub>3</sub> overcome substrate clamping to produce electromechanical strains >4.5%. By varying the chemistry of the PbHf<sub>1-x</sub>Ti<sub>x</sub>O<sub>3</sub> layer (x = 0.3-0.6) it is possible to alter the threshold field for the antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition, reducing the field required to induce the onset of large electromechanical response. Furthermore, varying the interface density (from 0.008 to 3.1 nm<sup>-1</sup>) enhances the electrical-breakdown field by >450%. Attaining the electromechanical strains does not necessitate creating a new material with unprecedented piezoelectric coefficients, but developing heterostructures capable of withstanding large fields, thus addressing traditional limitations of thin-film piezoelectrics.