Nanoscale Ferroelectricity in Crystalline γ-Glycine

Ferroelectrics are multifunctional materials that reversibly change their polarization under an electric field. Recently, the search for new ferroelectrics has focused on organic and bio‐organic materials, where polarization switching is used to record/retrieve information in the form of ferroelectr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced functional materials 2012-07, Vol.22 (14), p.2996-3003
Main Authors: Heredia, Alejandro, Meunier, Vincent, Bdikin, Igor K., Gracio, José, Balke, Nina, Jesse, Stephen, Tselev, Alexander, Agarwal, Pratul K., Sumpter, Bobby G., Kalinin, Sergei V., Kholkin, Andrei L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemistry
domains
ferroelectrics
Materials Science
memory
Physics
polarization
Science & Technology - Other Topics
switching
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Summary:Ferroelectrics are multifunctional materials that reversibly change their polarization under an electric field. Recently, the search for new ferroelectrics has focused on organic and bio‐organic materials, where polarization switching is used to record/retrieve information in the form of ferroelectric domains. This progress has opened a new avenue for data storage, molecular recognition, and new self‐assembly routes. Crystalline glycine is the simplest amino acid and is widely used by living organisms to build proteins. Here, it is reported for the first time that γ‐glycine, which has been known to be piezoelectric since 1954, is also a ferroelectric, as evidenced by local electromechanical measurements and by the existence of as‐grown and switchable ferroelectric domains in microcrystals grown from the solution. The experimental results are rationalized by molecular simulations that establish that the polarization vector in γ‐glycine can be switched on the nanoscale level, opening a pathway to novel classes of bioelectronic logic and memory devices. γ‐Glycine is for the first time reported to be a ferroelectric, as evidenced by the existence of switchable ferroelectric domains and Curie–Weiss behavior. The experimental results are rationalized by molecular simulations that establish that the polarization vector in γ‐glycine can be switched on the nanoscale level, opening a pathway to novel classes of bioelectronic logic and memory devices.
ISSN:1616-301X
1616-3028
DOI:10.1002/adfm.201103011