arXiv subjects

A. P. Levanyuk

Publications and source records attributed to A. P. Levanyuk.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

Background dielectric permittivity: material constant or fitting parameter?

The concept of background dielectric constant proposed by Tagantsev, together with the distinction between critical and non-critical electric polarizations as a natural extension for the order parameter of ferroelectric phase transitions, is critically discussed. It is argued and exemplified that, even if these quantities can be very useful for obtaining qualitative and semi-quantitative results from phenomenological modeling, they cannot be introduced in a self-consistent manner.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Negative bulk modulus and possibility of loss of elastic stability near tricritical transitions in thin films on substrates

Within the Landau-like approach we study anomalies of elastic moduli at phase transitions in thin films on substrates. We consider the case where, similar to many experimental cases, the first-order transition in free crystal would convert into a second order in the film if the system remained homogeneous. It is shown, however, that apart from its questionable thermodynamic profitability, the homogeneous state of low-symmetry phase may become absolutely unstable which is signaled by changing of sign of its bulk modulus.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Single- and multi-domain ferroelectricity driven by interfaces

The design of the interfacial bondings at metal-oxide interfaces yields exciting new phenomena and can be a route to sustain, and even promote, ferroelectricity at the nanoscale. We study the impact of these interfaces on the nature of the spontaneous polarization (single- vs. multi-domain) of ferroelectric capacitors. We show that interfacial properties intertwine with both ferrolectric and electrode parameters to determine the actual ground state of the system. We find analytically the criterion that specifies if ferroelectricity appears in a single- or multi- domain fashion as a result of this intertwining. The physics behind this criterion suggests new means for tailoring ferroelectric functionalities.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Effects of anisotropic elasticity in the problem of domain formation and stability of monodomain state in ferroelectric films

We study cubic ferroelectrics films that become uniaxial with a polar axis perpendicular to the film because of a misfit strain due to a substrate. The main present result is the analytical account for the elastic anisotropy as well as the anisotropy of the electrostriction. They define, in particular, an orientation of the domain boundaries and stabilizing or destabilizing effect of inhomogeneous elastic strains on the single domain state. We apply the general results to perovskite systems like BaTiO3/SrRuO3/SrTiO3 films and find that at least not far from the ferroelectric phase transition the equilibrium domain structure consists of the stripes along the cubic axes or at 45 degrees to them. We have also showed that in this system the inhomogeneous strains increase stability with regards to the small fluctuations of the metastable single domain state, which may exist not very close to the ferroelectric transition. The latter analytical result is in qualitative agreement with the numerical result by Pertsev and Kohlstedt [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 257603 (2007)], but we show that the effect is much smaller than those authors claim. We have found also that under certain conditions on the material constants, which are not satisfied in the perovskites but are not forbidden either, a checkerboard domain structure can be realized instead of the stripe-like one and that the polarization-strain coupling decreases stability of a single domain state instead of increasing it. The single domain state is metastable at certain large thicknesses and becomes suitable for memory applications at even larger thicknesses when the lifetime of the metastable state becomes sufficiently large.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Pseudo-proper ferroelectricity in thin films

We study ferroelectricity in thin films of pseudo-proper ferroelectrics such as the so-called spiral multiferroics. We find that this type of ferroelectricity stands better against depolarizing fields than conventional one. Its single-domain state can be easily preserved by metallic electrodes even in ultrathin films. In fact, single-domain ferroelectricty can be generated as a metastable state in the absence of electrodes. We also find a new regime of small thickness where unscreened films develop unusual multi-domain states with properties determined by non-electrostatic boundary conditions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Path to finding the critical thickness for memory in thin ferroelectric films

The finite screening length by real metallic electrodes, albeit very small (<1A), results in finite depolarizing field that tends to split the film into domains. In very thin ferroelectric films the domain structure reduces to sinusoidal distribution of polarization considered first in the 1980s. We discuss the phase transition between this structure and a single domain state and show that it is first order, if it exists at all. The alternative possibility is that the single domain state at zero bias voltage would be metastable for all temperatures in most systems. This scenario defines a path towards solution to a problem of finding parameters of a system that can sustain the ferroelectric memory over a desired period of time.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Continuous theory of ferroelectric states in ultrathin films with real electrodes

According to a continuous medium theory, in very thin ferroelectric films with real metallic electrodes (or dead layers near the electrodes) the domain structure reduces to sinusoidal distribution of ferroelectric polarization. Such a sinusoidal structure was considered in 1980s for para-ferroelectric phase transition in a capacitor with dead layers near electrode. We give a review of this theory and its further development for the case of real metallic electrodes. The goal of the general theory is to consistently interpret the experimental data in very thin films with real metallic electrodes. This is illustrated on a recent experimental data for 5-30 nm BaTiO3 films with SrRuO3/SrTiO3 electrodes. The screening length by real metallic electrodes is very small small (<1A), but it has a profound effect on ferroelectric properties and its phase behavior. This general theory also allows to formulate the important open problems and show paths towards their solution. In particular, this is a problem of finding parameters of the system, which can sustain the ferroelectric memory over a desired lifetime.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2007

A glass-like behavior in the low-temperature specific heat is a natural property of any real crystal

We provide a rigorous calculation of the free energy of a non-metallic crystal containing a small concentration of defects. The low-temperature leading contribution is found to be $\propto T^2$. This further gives a linear-in-$T$ low-temperature specific heat as that exhibited by glasses. These results also show that, similarly to what happens in glasses, the long-wavelength spectrum of a nearly perfect crystal does not suffice to determine its low-temperature behavior.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Comment on ``Elastic Stabilization of a Single-Domain Ferroelectric State in Nanoscale Capacitors and Tunnel Junctions" [N.A. Pertsev and H. Kohlstedt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 257603 (2007).]

In a recent Letter [N.A. Pertsev and H. Kohlstedt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 257603 (2007)] the authors claim that "even nanoscale capacitors and tunnel junctions may have out of plane polarization sufficient for memory applications." Here we show in an elementary way that this conclusion is not substantiated by their calculations and that they should have come to the opposite conclusion within their approximations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Depolarizing field and "real" hysteresis loops in nanometer-scale ferroelectric films

We give detailed analysis of the effect of depolarizing field in nanometer-size ferroelectric capacitors studied by Kim et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 237602 (2005)]. We calculate a critical thickness of the homogeneous state and its stability with respect to domain formation for strained thin films of BaTiO3 on SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrate within the Landau theory. While the former (2.5nm) is the same as given by ab-initio calculations, the actual critical thickness is set by the domains at 1.6nm. There is a large Merz's activation field for polarization relaxation. Remarkably, the results show a_negative_ slope of the "actual" hysteresis loops, a hallmark of the domain structures in ideal thin films with imperfect screening.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Polydomain ferroelectricity in very thin films [D.J. Kim et al., Phys.Rev.Lett. 95, 237602 (2005)]

T.W. Noh and his group (Kim et al.: PRL, 2005) have recently published a seminal experimental study of very thin ferroelectric (FE) BaTiO3 capacitors. They found an evidence that all their samples, including the thinnest one (d=5 nm), are multi-domain (MD). Under a high enough external field, the MD state goes over into polarization saturated state, perhaps a single domain (SD) one, which relaxes back due to domain wall motion if the external field E_0 is reduced below a certain value E_0=E_{0r}. Kim et al. have approximately identified this field as a depolarizing field due to incomplete screening by electrodes and claimed that it coincides with the one estimated from electrostatics. We found that such an interpretation does not apply and there is actually a very instructive disagreement between the theory and experiment. The data indicates (i) a presence of substantial Merz's activation field, (ii) first direct observation of negative susceptibility of multidomain films that we predicted some while ago.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Universal features of the defect-induced damping of lattice vibrations

It is shown that any defect gives an Ohmic contribution to the damping of any normal mode of the crystal lattice with nonzero wavevector which does not vanish at zero temperature. This explains the large phason damping observed at low temperatures in incommensurate phases, and might be a key factor to understand the linear-in-$T$ specific heat observed in a number of real dielectrics at low enough temperatures.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

On low-temperature structural phase transitions

We comment on zero- and low-temperature structural phase transitions, expecting that these comments might be relevant not only for this structural case. We first consider a textbook model whose classical version is the only model for which the Landau theory of phase transitions and the concept of ``soft mode'' introduced by Ginzburg are exact. Within this model, we reveal the effects of quantum fluctuations and thermal ones at low temperatures. To do so, the knowledge of the dynamics of the model is needed. However, as already was emphasized by Ginzburg et al. in eighties, a realistic theory for such a dynamics at high temperatures is lacking, what also seems to be the case in the low temperature regime. Consequently, some theoretical conclusions turn out to be dependent on the assumptions on this dynamics. We illustrate this point with the low-temperature phase diagram, and discuss some unexpected shortcomings of the continuous medium approaches.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2006

Phase transitions and ferroelectricity in very thin films: single- versus multidomain state

We discuss ferroelectric phase transitions into single- and multidomain states in very thin films using continuous theory. It is shown that in nearly cubic ferroelectrics the domain state may survive down to atomic film thicknesses, unlike the single domain state, which is almost always unstable or metastable. This conclusion is valid almost irrespective of the nature of electrodes (metallic or semiconducting) and whether or not the screening carriers may be present in the ferroelectric itself.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Is there Ballistic Conductance Quantization in Real Life Metals Nanocontacts?

Theory and a vast set of experimental work in metals, since a century, appear to show that the mean free path of conduction electrons in a real metal is about the min (bulk mean free path, smallest transversal size of the metal), a result that was already proposed by J. J. Thomson in 1901. This establishes, as discussed in this work, serious difficulties to justify conductance quantization and ballistic transport in atomic/nanocontacts or nanoconstrictions of real life metals. The ohmic resistance of the leads proves to be as important as the ballistic one of the constriction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Low-temperature specific heat of real crystals: Possibility of leading contribution of optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations

We point out that the repeatedly reported glass-like properties of crystalline materials are not necessarily associated with localized (or quasilocalized) excitations. In real crystals, optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations remain damped due to defects down to zero temperature. If such a damping is frequency-independent, e.g. due to planar defects or charged defects, these optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations yield a linear-in-$T$ contribution to the low-temperature specific heat of the crystal lattices. At low enough temperatures such a contribution will prevail over that of the long-wavelength acoustical vibrations (Debye contribution). The crossover between the linear and the Debye regime takes place at $T^* \propto \sqrt N$, where $N$ is the concentration of the defects responsible for the damping. Estimates show that this crossover could be observable.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2005

Strong effect of surfaces on resolution limit of negative-index "superlens"

We show that subwavelength imaging by negative index materials (NIM), related to their "soft" electromagnetic response, is very (and non trivially) sensitive to the surface properties. A minute deviation of dielectric permittivity epsilon or magnetic permeability mu from the ideal values epsilon = mu = -1 in thin surface layer(s) results in drastic reduction of the resolution limit of a NIM slab. There may be a gap in the polariton spectrum and this would allow establishment of a stationary regime even without losses.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Universal mechanism of discontinuity of commensurate-incommensurate transitions in three-dimensional solids: Strain dependence of soliton self-energy

We show that there exists a universal mechanism of long-range soliton attraction in three-dimensional solids and, therefore, of discontinuity of any commensurate-incommensurate (C-IC) phase transition. This mechanism is due to the strain dependence of the soliton self-energy and specific features of the solid-state elasticity. The role of this mechanism is studied in detail for a class of C-IC transitions where the IC modulation is one-dimensional, the anisotropy in the order parameter space is small, and the symmetry of the systems allows the existence of the Lifshitz invariant. Two other mechanisms of soliton attraction are operative here but the universal mechanism considered in this paper is found to be the most important one in some cases. Comparison with the most extensively studied C-IC transition in $\rm K_2SeO_4$ shows that the experimentally observed thermal anomalies can be understood as a result of the smearing of the theoretically predicted discontinuous transition.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗