Abstract
BiFeO3 films with in-plane compressive strain of -3.5% were deposited on oxygen-deficient La0.3Sr0.7MnO 3-δ buffered SrTiO3(001) substrates. This highly strained BiFeO3 does not relax directly into its rhombohedral parent phase upon increasing the film thickness. Instead, a multi-step path involving structural transitions is observed. The misfit stress is first accommodated by the occurrence of true tetragonal BiFeO3 with c/a ratio of 1.23, then reduced by the transformation to the MC-type monoclinic structure, and finally alleviated through the MC-rhombohedral transition. Moreover, this process enables the formation of strain-driven morphotropic phase boundaries at a stress level much lower than the reported threshold of -4.5%.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 052908 |
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
Volume | 104 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 3 Feb 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |