Pinning of Ferroelectric Bloch Wall at a Paraelectric Layer

Abstract

Phase-field simulations of domain walls between antiparallel ferroelectric domains in BaTiO3 - SrTiO3 crystalline superlattices suggest that a paraelectric layer with a thickness comparable to the thickness of the domain wall itself can act as an efficient pinning layer. Moreover, such layer is capable to unwind the characteristic structure of a ferroelectric Bloch wall passing through it.