Uncompensated Polarization in Incommensurate Modulations of Perovskite Antiferroelectrics

Phys Rev Lett. 2019 Nov 22;123(21):217602. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.217602.

Abstract

Complex polar structures of incommensurate modulations (ICMs) are revealed in chemically modified PbZrO_{3} perovskite antiferroelectrics using advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques. The Pb-cation displacements, previously assumed to arrange in a fully compensated antiparallel fashion, are found to be either antiparallel, but with different magnitudes, or in a nearly orthogonal arrangement in adjacent stripes in the ICMs. Ab initio calculations corroborate the low-energy state of these arrangements. Our discovery corrects the atomic understanding of ICMs in PbZrO_{3}-based perovskite antiferroelectrics.