The effect of a strain induced field on the dielectric property of a ferroelectric bilayer system

The Transverse Using Model (TIM) based on the effective-field theory has been developed to study the physical properties of the ferroelectric bilayer system BaTiO3/SrTiO3 (BTO/STO), based on the differential operator technique. The effect of strain on the interfacial layers between two different slabs (A and B) can be described by the effective built-in field E-2. The ferroelectric behavior of a bilayer system is strongly influenced by strain and associated with slab thickness. The phase transition temperature shifts toward a higher value on increasing the slab thickness. The susceptibility strongly depends on both the strength of strain and the slab thickness. The height of the peak from the plot of susceptibility against temperature decreases on increasing the slab thickness. The pyroelectric coefficient changes into a round peak at the transition temperature that is different from the sharp peak in the absence of external and strain-induced fields. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.