A research team led by Prof. Hu Weijin from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered that single-domain ferroelectric thin films can be efficiently achieved by simply elevating the growth temperature.

Their findings, published in Advanced Functional Materials, offer a straightforward alternative to conventional complex fabrication methods, with significant implications for ferroelectric device performance.

Ferroelectric materials naturally form polydomain structures to minimize electrostatic energy. Nevertheless, single-domain thin films can be achieved through precise control of interfacial atomic layers or strain gradients. The quest for a simple method to obtain a single-domain state and its impact on ferroelectric device performance are of great interest.