Dislocation-induced large local polarization inhomogeneity of ferroelectric materials

Dislocations in ferroelectrics play important roles in ferroelectricity, piezoelectricity, and dielectricity. However, the intrinsic charge-lattice coupling mechanism in ferroelectric crystals containing dislocations is still not well understood. Here, we report a large local polarization inhomogeneity of ~100 μCcm⁻² induced by a single a[001] dislocation in the PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃/SrTiO₃ film/substrate heterostructure, the tensile region (~120 μCcm⁻²) and the compressive strain region (~21 μCcm⁻²) around the dislocation forms a butterfly-like area. This study reveals the dramatic effects of dislocations on local polarization and provides a strategy to manipulate the polarization magnitude and orientation of local polarization by defect engineering.