High-throughput combinatorial approach expedites the synthesis of a lead-free relaxor ferroelectric system

Di Zhang; Katherine J. Harmon; Michael J. Zachman; Ping Lu; Doyun Kim; Zhan Zhang; Nickolas Cucciniello; Reid Markland; Ken William Ssennyimba; Hua Zhou; Yue Cao; Matthew Brahlek; Hao Zheng; Matthew M. Schneider; Alessandro R. Mazza; Zach Hughes; Chase Somodi; Benjamin Freiman; Sarah Pooley; Sundar Kunwar; Pinku Roy; Qing Tu; Rodney J. McCabe; Aiping Chen

arXiv · 2312.17715

High-throughput combinatorial approach expedites the synthesis of a lead-free relaxor ferroelectric system

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Abstract

Developing novel lead-free ferroelectric materials is crucial for next-generation microelectronic technologies that are energy efficient and environment friendly. However, materials discovery and property optimization are typically time-consuming due to the limited throughput of traditional synthesis methods. In this work, we use a high-throughput combinatorial synthesis approach to fabricate lead-free ferroelectric superlattices and solid solutions of (Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 (BCT) and Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 (BZT) phases with continuous variation of composition and layer thickness. High-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) and analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) demonstrate high film quality and well-controlled compositional gradients. Ferroelectric and dielectric property measurements identify the optimal property point achieved at the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) with a composition of 48BZT-52BCT. Displacement vector maps reveal that ferroelectric domain sizes are tunable by varying {BCT-BZT}N superlattice geometry. This high-throughput synthesis approach can be applied to many other material systems to expedite new materials discovery and properties optimization, allowing for the exploration of a large area of phase space within a single growth.

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Di Zhang, Katherine J. Harmon, Michael J. Zachman, Ping Lu, Doyun Kim, Zhan Zhang, Nickolas Cucciniello, Reid Markland, Ken William Ssennyimba, Hua Zhou, Yue Cao, Matthew Brahlek, Hao Zheng, Matthew M. Schneider, Alessandro R. Mazza, Zach Hughes, Chase Somodi, Benjamin Freiman, Sarah Pooley, Sundar Kunwar, Pinku Roy, Qing Tu, Rodney J. McCabe, Aiping Chen. 2023-12-29. High-throughput combinatorial approach expedites the synthesis of a lead-free relaxor ferroelectric system. https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.17715

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