Ultrahigh electromechanical response from competing ferroic orders

Ultrahigh electromechanical response from competing ferroic orders

Nature

10.1038/s41586-024-07917-9

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07917-9

Baichen Lin, Khuong Phuong Ong, Tiannan Yang, Qibin Zeng, Hui Kim Hui, Zhen Ye, Celine Sim, Zhihao Yen, Ping Yang, Yanxin Dou, Xiaolong Li, Xingyu Gao, Chee Kiang Ivan Tan, Zhi Shiuh Lim, Shengwei Zeng, Tiancheng Luo, Jinlong Xu, Xin Tong, Patrick Wen Feng Li, Minqin Ren, Kaiyang Zeng, Chengliang Sun, Seeram Ramakrishna, Mark B. H. Breese, Chris Boothroyd, Chengkuo Lee, David J. Singh, Yeng Ming Lam, Huajun Liu

General Materials Science

11 September 2024

Lin, B., Ong, K. P., Yang, T., Zeng, Q., Hui, H. K., Ye, Z., Sim, C., Yen, Z., Yang, P., Dou, Y., Li, X., Gao, X., Tan, C. K. I., Lim, Z. S., Zeng, S., Luo, T., Xu, J., Tong, X., Li, P. W. F., … Liu, H. (2024). Ultrahigh electromechanical response from competing ferroic orders. Nature, 633(8031), 798–803. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07917-9

Materials with electromechanical coupling are essential for transducers and acoustic devices as reversible converters between mechanical and electrical energy1–6. High electromechanical responses are typically found in materials with strong structural instabilities, conventionally achieved by two strategies—morphotropic phase boundaries7 and nanoscale structural heterogeneity8. Here we demonstrate a different strategy to accomplish ultrahigh electromechanical response by inducing extreme structural instability from competing antiferroelectric and ferroelectric orders. Guided by the phase diagram and theoretical calculations, we designed the coexistence of antiferroelectric orthorhombic and ferroelectric rhombohedral phases in sodium niobate thin films. These films show effective piezoelectric coefficients above 5,000 pm V−1 because of electric-field-induced antiferroelectric–ferroelectric phase transitions. Our results provide a general approach to design and exploit antiferroelectric materials for electromechanical devices.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This research / project is supported by the National Research Foundation - Competivive Research Programme -28
Grant Reference no. : CRP28-2022-0038

This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research - MANUFACTURING, TRADE AND CONNECTIVITY (MTC) /INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH GRANTS
Grant Reference no. : M22K2c0084

This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research - Career Development Fund
Grant Reference no. : C210812020

This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research - Central Research Fund
Grant Reference no. :

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https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/22099

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1476-4687

Institute of High Performance Computing 

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07917-9