Polarization Evolution in Nanometer-Thick PbZrO3 Films: Implications for Energy Storage and Pyroelectric Sensors

Polarization evolution in nanometer-thick antiferroelectric films is of great scientific and technological interest for energy storage and pyroelectric sensors. Despite the staggered dipole arrangement in bulks, the realistic situation in nanometer-thick films remains unrevealed. Here, the evolution of the dipole arrangement in PbZrO 3 (PZO) films with different thicknesses is mapped via an electron microscope. The polarization in thick PZO films has two modulation modes: magnitude and angle modulation. With decreasing film thickness, the polarization vectors are consistently tuned to out-of-plane or in-plane, inducing out-of-plane and in-plane ferroelectricity. The polarization evolution in nanoscale films promotes antiferroelectric-based supercapacitor and sensor scale-down.