Electronic structure orientation as a map of in-plane antiferroelectricity in β′-In

Authors: Joseph L. Spellberg, Lina Kodaimati, Prakriti P. Joshi, Nasim Mirzajani, Liangbo Liang, Sarah B. King

Published: 2024-06-14

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado2136

Source: Full article


Abstract

Antiferroelectric (AFE) materials are excellent candidates for sensors, capacitors, and data storage due to their electrical switchability and high-energy storage capacity. However, imaging the nanoscale landscape of AFE domains is notoriously inaccessible, which has hindered development and intentional tuning of AFE materials. Here, we demonstrate that polarization-dependent photoemission electron microscopy can resolve the arrangement and orientation of in-plane AFE domains on the nanoscale, despite the absence of a net lattice polarization. Through direct determination of electronic transition orientations and analysis of domain boundary constraints, we establish that antiferroelectricity in β′-In