Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) can exhibit multiple orders, including superconductivity, an antiferrodistortive instability and ferroelectricity. The cooperation or competition between these orders in samples that undergo all three transitions is of great fundamental interest. Here we report scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging of the antiferrodistortive and ferroelectric structural distortions in a compressively strained SrTiO3 film that was previously shown to become superconducting at ~ 410 mK. The experiments are complemented by first-principles simulations. Unlike the polar ferroelectric phase, which is suppressed by dopants, the antiferrodistortive order is insensitive to the presence of the free carriers. The single domain nature of the antiferrodistortive phase excludes any role of antiferrodistortive domain walls in the superconductivity. Furthermore, a previously reported low temperature resistance anomaly is associated with the ferroelectric transition, not the antiferrodistortive transition.
Zhu, Guomin, et al. "Coexistence of antiferrodistortive and polar order in a superconducting <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>SrTi</mml:mi><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> film." Physical Review Materials, vol. 8, no. 5, May. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevmaterials.8.l051801
Zhu, Guomin, Hallett, Alex, Combs, Nicholas G., Jeong, Hanbyeol, Genc, Arda, Harter, John W., & Stemmer, Susanne (2024). Coexistence of antiferrodistortive and polar order in a superconducting <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>SrTi</mml:mi><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> film. Physical Review Materials, 8(5). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevmaterials.8.l051801
Zhu, Guomin, Hallett, Alex, Combs, Nicholas G., et al., "Coexistence of antiferrodistortive and polar order in a superconducting <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>SrTi</mml:mi><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> film," Physical Review Materials 8, no. 5 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevmaterials.8.l051801
@article{osti_2346286,
author = {Zhu, Guomin and Hallett, Alex and Combs, Nicholas G. and Jeong, Hanbyeol and Genc, Arda and Harter, John W. and Stemmer, Susanne},
title = {Coexistence of antiferrodistortive and polar order in a superconducting
<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>SrTi</mml:mi><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>
film},
annote = {Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) can exhibit multiple orders, including superconductivity, an antiferrodistortive instability and ferroelectricity. The cooperation or competition between these orders in samples that undergo all three transitions is of great fundamental interest. Here we report scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging of the antiferrodistortive and ferroelectric structural distortions in a compressively strained SrTiO3 film that was previously shown to become superconducting at ~ 410 mK. The experiments are complemented by first-principles simulations. Unlike the polar ferroelectric phase, which is suppressed by dopants, the antiferrodistortive order is insensitive to the presence of the free carriers. The single domain nature of the antiferrodistortive phase excludes any role of antiferrodistortive domain walls in the superconductivity. Furthermore, a previously reported low temperature resistance anomaly is associated with the ferroelectric transition, not the antiferrodistortive transition.},
doi = {10.1103/physrevmaterials.8.l051801},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2346286},
journal = {Physical Review Materials},
issn = {ISSN 2475-9953},
number = {5},
volume = {8},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Physical Society (APS)},
year = {2024},
month = {05}}