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  • A Strain-Driven Morphotropi...
    Zeches, R. J.; Rossell, M. D.; Zhang, J. X.; Hatt, A. J.; He, Q.; Yang, C.-H.; Kumar, A.; Wang, C. H.; Melville, A.; Adamo, C.; Sheng, G.; Chu, Y.-H.; Ihlefeld, J. F.; Erni, R.; Ederer, C.; Gopalan, V.; Chen, L. Q.; Schlom, D. G.; Spaldin, N. A.; Martin, L. W.; Ramesh, R.

    Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 11/2009, Volume: 326, Issue: 5955
    Journal Article

    Piezoelectric materials, which convert mechanical to electrical energy and vice versa, are typically characterized by the intimate coexistence of two phases across a morphotropic phase boundary. Electrically switching one to the other yields large electromechanical coupling coefficients. Driven by global environmental concerns, there is currently a strong push to discover practical lead-free piezoelectrics for device engineering. Using a combination of epitaxial growth techniques in conjunction with theoretical approaches, we show the formation of a morphotropic phase boundary through epitaxial constraint in lead-free piezoelectric bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) films. Electric field–dependent studies show that a tetragonal-like phase can be reversibly converted into a rhombohedral-like phase, accompanied by measurable displacements of the surface, making this new lead-free system of interest for probe-based data storage and actuator applications.