Revealing tilt-driven structural heterogeneity in hybrid improper ferroelectrics by spatially-resolved crystallography
Abstract
Domain walls in ferroic oxides can host emergent functionalities that differ fundamentally from those of the surrounding bulk, making their microscopic structure central to understanding and controlling macroscopic behaviour. We use scanning three-dimensional X-ray diffraction to map the spatial evolution of coupled octahedral distortion modes across ferroelastic domain walls in the hybrid improper ferroelectric Ca2.15Sr0.85Ti2O7. By combining tomographic reconstruction with symmetry-adapted analysis of the octahedral rotation and tilt and associated strain modes, we map their spatial evolution across individual walls in the bulk crystal. We find that the walls are intrinsically extended, with widths far exceeding those expected for conventional Ising-like ferroic interfaces. The wall structure is characterised by a continuous rotation of the tilt order parameter through a tetragonal intermediate. These results provide new microscopic insight into the structural mechanisms governing ferroelastic wall formation, ferroelectric switching, and emergent functionality at domain walls.
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BibTeX
@misc{ladbrook2026revealing,
title = {{Revealing tilt-driven structural heterogeneity in hybrid improper ferroelectrics by spatially-resolved crystallography}},
author = {Evie Ladbrook and Jon P. Wright and Mark S. Senn},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.24383},
eprint = {2609.24383},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24383},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Revealing tilt-driven structural heterogeneity in hybrid improper ferroelectrics by spatially-resolved crystallography
AU - Evie Ladbrook
AU - Jon P. Wright
AU - Mark S. Senn
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.24383
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24383
AB - Domain walls in ferroic oxides can host emergent functionalities that differ fundamentally from those of the surrounding bulk, making their microscopic structure central to understanding and controlling macroscopic behaviour. We use scanning three-dimensional X-ray diffraction to map the spatial evolution of coupled octahedral distortion modes across ferroelastic domain walls in the hybrid improper ferroelectric Ca_2.15Sr_0.85Ti_2O_7. By combining tomographic reconstruction with symmetry-adapted analysis of the octahedral rotation and tilt and associated strain modes, we map their spatial evolution across individual walls in the bulk crystal. We find that the walls are intrinsically extended, with widths far exceeding those expected for conventional Ising-like ferroic interfaces. The wall structure is characterised by a continuous rotation of the tilt order parameter through a tetragonal intermediate. These results provide new microscopic insight into the structural mechanisms governing ferroelastic wall formation, ferroelectric switching, and emergent functionality at domain walls.
ER -