Ferroelectricity in Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3 thin films:: Critical thickness and 180° stripe domains -: art. no. 104108

The ferroelectric properties of disorder Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O-3 thin films are investigated with Monte Carlo simulations on the basis of a first-principles-derived Hamiltonian. It is found that there exists a critical thickness of about three unit cells (similar to12 Angstrom) below which the ferroelectricity disappears under the condition that the in-plane polarizations are suppressed by sufficient clamping effect. Above the critical thickness, periodic 180degrees stripe domains with out-of-plane polarizations are formed in the systems in order to minimize the energy of the depolarizing field. The stripe period increases with increasing film thickness. The microscopic mechanism responsible for these phenomena is discussed.