Phase transition enhanced superior elasticity in freestanding single-crystalline multiferroic BiFeO3 membranes

• Published in: Science advances 2020-08, Vol.6 (34)
• Main Authors: Peng, Bin, Peng, Ren-Ci, Zhang, Yong-Qiang, Dong, Guohua, Zhou, Ziyao, Zhou, Yuqing, Li, Tao, Liu, Zhijie, Luo, Zhenlin, Wang, Shaohao, Xia, Yan, Qiu, Ruibin, Cheng, Xiaoxing, Xue, Fei, Hu, Zhongqiang, Ren, Wei, Ye, Zuo-Guang, Chen, Long-Qing, Shan, Zhiwei, Min, Tai, Liu, Ming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: MATERIALS SCIENCE; SciAdv r-articles; Science & Technology - Other Topics
• ISSN: 2375-2548; 2375-2548
• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba5847

The integration of ferroic oxide thin films into advanced flexible electronics will bring multifunctionality beyond organic and metallic materials. However, it is challenging to achieve high flexibility in single-crystalline ferroic oxides that is considerable to organic or metallic materials. Here, we demonstrate the superior flexibility of freestanding single-crystalline BiFeO3membranes, which are typical multiferroic materials with multifunctionality. They can endure cyclic 180° folding and have good recoverability, with the maximum bending strain up to 5.42% during in situ bending under scanning electron microscopy, far beyond their bulk counterparts. Such superior elasticity mainly originates from reversible rhombohedral-tetragonal phase transition, as revealed by phase-field simulations. This study suggests a general fundamental mechanism for a variety of ferroic oxides to achieve high flexibility and to work as smart materials in flexible electronics.