The polarization field of the ferroelectric oxide lead zirconate titanate Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 was used to tune the critical temperature of the hightemperature superconducting cuprate gadolinium barium ...copper oxide (GdBa2Cu3O7-x) in a reversible, nonvolatile fashion. For slightly underdoped samples, a uniform shift of several Kelvin in the critical temperature was observed, whereas for more underdoped samples, an insulating state was induced. This transition from superconducting to insulating behavior does not involve chemical or crystalline modification of the material.
We present a detailed study of compressively strained PbxSr1−xTiO3 thin films grown by off-axis radio frequency magnetron sputtering on (001)-oriented Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates. Film tetragonality ...and the ferroelectric critical temperatures are measured for samples of different composition and thickness and compared with a phenomenological Landau-Devonshire model. 180∘ ferroelectric domains are observed using both X-ray diffraction and piezoresponse force microscopy and domain sizes obtained by the two techniques are compared and discussed.
Polydomain superlattices composed of ferroelectric PbTiO
3
and paraelectric SrTiO
3
were investigated by means of temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction and electrical measurements. The ...ferroelectric nanodomains were found to have an almost isotropic distribution of domain wall alignments and to be highly responsive to applied electric fields, giving rise to large enhancements in the overall dielectric response of the structure. Electrical measurements revealed a dramatic dependence of the dielectric permittivity, tunability, and polarization-voltage characteristics on the superlattice period. For short-period superlattices, double hysteresis loops were observed.
Full hemispherical X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD) experiments have been performed to investigate at the atomic level ultrathin epitaxial c-axis oriented PbTiO3 (PTO) films grown on Nb-doped ...SrTiO3 substrates. Comparison between experiment and theory allows us to identify a preferential ferroelectric polarization state in a 60 Å -thick PTO film. Multiple scattering theory based on a cluster-model Phys. Rev. B , 075404 (2001) is used to simulate the experiments.