ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Local structure of candidate hybrid improper ferroelectrics

Abstract: Ferroelectrics are materials that exhibit a switcheable polarisation, i.e. a net displacement of positively charged cations relative to anions that is reversible. In traditional "proper" ferroelectrics, this property is usually associated with the electronic structure of particular cations, but the field has been shaken recently by the discover of the "hybrid-improper" mechanism for ferroelectricity, in which different types of structural changes can be coupled to give rise to this property. We've been working on some materials with the potential to show ferroelectricity by this new mechanism, but our experiments have revealed some disorder in their crystal structures. We believe that this disorder is related to the very same structural changes associated with the mechanism, and neutron scattering experiments to study this are needed to fully understand this behaviour.

Principal Investigator: Professor Martin Dove
Experimenter: Dr Emma McCabe
Experimenter: Dr Neil Hyatt
Experimenter: Dr Anthony Phillips
Local Contact: Dr Helen Playford
Experimenter: Dr Eric Bousquet
Experimenter: Dr Igor Levin

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1720403

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1720403

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Martin Dove et al; (2017): Local structure of candidate hybrid improper ferroelectrics, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1720403

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.