Lowering of ground state induced by core-shell structure in strontium titanate

A new ground state of textbook compound strontium titanate (SrTiO3) is obtained by inducing a specific core-shell structure of the particles. Using a combination of high energy synchrotron and neutron diffraction, we demonstrate a lowering of the ferroelastic ground state towards a new antiferrodistortive phase, accompanied with strong shifts of the critical temperature. This new phase is discussed within the Landau theory and compared with the situation in thin films and during pressure experiments. The crucial competition between particle shape anisotropy, surface tension, and shear strain is analyzed. Inducing a specific core-shell structure is therefore an easy way to tailor structural properties and to stabilize new phases that cannot exist in bulk material, just like film deposition on a substrate.