Tetragonal BiFeO3 on yttria-stabilized zirconia

Abstract

High structural susceptibility of multiferroic BiFeO3 (BFO) makes it a potential replacement of current Pb-based piezoelectrics. In this study, a tetragonal phase is identified based on a combination of x-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electronic microscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy when BFO is grown on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates. To distinguish the discrepancy between this tetragonal phase and common cases of monoclinic BFO, piezoelectric force microscopy images and optical property are also performed. It shows a lower electrostatic energy of ferroelectric domains and a large reduction of band gap for BFO grown on YSZ substrate comparing to the well-known one grown on LaAlO3 substrate. Our findings in this work can provide more insights to understand the structural diversity of multiferroic BFO system for further applications. (C) 2015 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.