A major challenge for ferroelectric devices is the depolarization field, which competes with and often destroys long-range polar order in the limit of ultrathin films. Recent theoretical predictions suggest a new class of materials, termed hyperferroelectics, that should be robust against the depolarization field and enable ferroelectricity down to the monolayer limit. Here, the authors demonstrate the epitaxial growth of hexagonal LiZnSb, one of the hyperferroelectric candidate materials, by molecular-beam epitaxy on GaSb (111)B substrates. Due to the high volatility of all three atomic species, they find that LiZnSb can be grown in an adsorption-controlled window, using an excess zinc flux. Within this window, the desired polar hexagonal phase is stabilized with respect to a competing cubic polymorph, as revealed by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy measurements. First-principles calculations show that for moderate amounts of epitaxial strain and moderate concentrations of Li vacancies, the cubic LiZnSb phase is lower in formation energy than the hexagonal phase, but only by a few millielectronvolts per formula unit. Therefore, they suggest that kinetics plays a role in stabilizing the desired hexagonal phase at low temperatures. Their results provide a path toward experimentally demonstrating ferroelectricity and hyperferroelectricity in a new class of ternary intermetallic compounds.
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Control of polymorphism during epitaxial growth of hyperferroelectric candidate LiZnSb on GaSb (111)B
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March 2020
Research Article|
March 05 2020
Control of polymorphism during epitaxial growth of hyperferroelectric candidate LiZnSb on GaSb (111)B
Dongxue Du
;
Dongxue Du
a)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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Patrick J. Strohbeen;
Patrick J. Strohbeen
a)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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Hanjong Paik;
Hanjong Paik
2
Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials (PARADIM), Cornell University
, Ithaca, New York 14853
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Chenyu Zhang;
Chenyu Zhang
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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Konrad T. Genser;
Konrad T. Genser
3
Department of Physics, Rutgers University
, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
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Karin M. Rabe;
Karin M. Rabe
3
Department of Physics, Rutgers University
, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
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Paul M. Voyles
;
Paul M. Voyles
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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Darrell G. Schlom;
Darrell G. Schlom
2
Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials (PARADIM), Cornell University
, Ithaca, New York 148534
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University
, Ithaca, New York 148535
Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Cornell University
, Ithaca, New York 14853
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Jason K. Kawasaki
Jason K. Kawasaki
b)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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a)
D. Du and P. J. Strohbeen contributed equally.
b)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Note: This paper is part of the Conference Collection: 35th North American Molecular Beam Epitaxy Conference 2019.
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 38, 022208 (2020)
Article history
Received:
January 15 2020
Accepted:
February 13 2020
Citation
Dongxue Du, Patrick J. Strohbeen, Hanjong Paik, Chenyu Zhang, Konrad T. Genser, Karin M. Rabe, Paul M. Voyles, Darrell G. Schlom, Jason K. Kawasaki; Control of polymorphism during epitaxial growth of hyperferroelectric candidate LiZnSb on GaSb (111)B. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 1 March 2020; 38 (2): 022208. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5145217
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