Emergent Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Phase in Low-Dimensional Ferroelectrics

Y. Nahas, S. Prokhorenko, I. Kornev, and L. Bellaiche
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 117601 – Published 12 September 2017
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Abstract

Using first-principles-based simulations merging an effective Hamiltonian scheme with scaling, symmetry, and topological arguments, we find that an overlooked Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase sustained by quasicontinuous symmetry emerges between the ferroelectric phase and the paraelectric one of BaTiO3 ultrathin film, being under tensile strain. Not only do these results provide an extension of BKT physics to the field of ferroelectrics, but they also unveil their nontrivial critical behavior in low dimensions.

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  • Received 27 January 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.117601

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Y. Nahas1,*, S. Prokhorenko1,2, I. Kornev3, and L. Bellaiche1

  • 1Physics Department and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA
  • 2Theoretical Materials Physics, Q-MAT CESAM, Université de Liège, B-4000 Sart Tilman, Belgium
  • 3Laboratoire Structures, Propriétés et Modélisation des Solides, CentraleSupélec, 92290 Châtenay-Malabry, France

  • *yousra.nahas@gmail.com

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Issue

Vol. 119, Iss. 11 — 15 September 2017

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