Phase-Selective Growth of Ferroelectric and Antiferroelectric NaNbO3 Thin Films

Phase-Selective Growth of Ferroelectric and Antiferroelectric NaNbO3 Thin Films

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

10.1021/acsami.5c21649

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c21649

Baichen Lin, Qibin Zeng, Ping Yang, Shengwei Zeng, Zhi Shiuh Lim, Tiancheng Luo, Weifan Cai, Samantha Faye Duran Solco, Zhen Ye, Celine Sim, Jinlong Xu, Mengyao Xiao, Khuong Phuong Ong, Chee Kiang Ivan Tan, Seeram Ramakrishna, Mark B. H. Breese, Chengkuo Lee, Kaiyang Zeng, Yeng Ming Lam, Huajun Liu

General Materials Science

19 February 2026

Lin, B., Zeng, Q., Yang, P., Zeng, S., Lim, Z. S., Luo, T., Cai, W., Solco, S. F. D., Ye, Z., Sim, C., Xu, J., Xiao, M., Ong, K. P., Tan, C. K. I., Ramakrishna, S., Breese, M. B. H., Lee, C., Zeng, K., Lam, Y. M., & Liu, H. (2026). Phase-Selective Growth of Ferroelectric and Antiferroelectric NaNbO3 Thin Films. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 18(8), 12811–12818. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c21649

Ferroelectric and antiferroelectric materials play a critical role in electrical, optical and thermal devices due to their electric field-controlled polarization switching capability. Controlling the phase formation during thin film growth is essential for the design of these devices. In this study, we separately stabilized pure ferroelectric rhombohedral (N phase) and pure antiferroelectric orthorhombic (P phase) structures by precisely controlling the growth conditions of 70 nm-thick NaNbO₃ (NNO) thin films on (111)-oriented Nb-doped SrTiO₃ substrates. Through reciprocal space mappings and quarter-order diffraction measurements, a twinning structure within the NNO P-phase film is resolved. An antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition, accompanied by a substantial enhancement in electromechanical coupling response, is observed in the NNO P-phase film. Importantly, a phase diagram is constructed to delineate the growth window for each phase. This work provides a framework for synthesizing NNO thin films with controlled phases and offers a strategy for designing functional ferroelectric and antiferroelectric devices.

Publisher Copyright

This research / project is supported by the National Research Foundation - Competitive Research Program
Grant Reference no. : NRF-CRP28-2022-0002

This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Manufacturing, Trade, and Connectivity Individual Research Grant
Grant Reference no. : M22K2c0084

This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Career Development Fund
Grant Reference no. : C210812020

This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Central Research Fund
Grant Reference no. :

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see 10.1021/acsami.5c21649.

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/23157

1944-8244
1944-8252

Institute of Materials Research and Engineering