Heterogeneous distribution of B-site cations in BaZrxTi1−xO3 epitaxial thin films grown on (001) SrTiO3 by pulsed laser deposition

The isovalent susbstitution of Ti4+ by Zr4+ in BaZrxTi1−xO3 modifies the dielectric character of ferroelectric BaTiO3 yielding different behaviours such as relaxor, polar cluster, etc. The dynamic coupling between BaTiO3 polar nanoregions and BaZrO3 nonpolar ones as well as microstrain between them are thought to be behind such a rich phase diagram. However, these short-range compositonal variations are elusive to detect and this topic is thus...