Polarization rotation associated critical phenomena in epitaxial PbTiO3 thin films near room temperature

Strain-driven and temperature-driven monoclinic-orthorhombic phase transition in epitaxial PbTiO3 exhibit similar behavior under electric field, i.e., polarization discontinuity is reduced at the first-order ferroelectric-ferroelectric transition whose latent heat vanishes at a critical point. Due to critical phenomena the energy barrier for polarization rotation significantly diminishes, and hence thermodynamic response functions tend to diverge in the induced monoclinic states. Phenomenological calculations show that dielectric and piezoelectric properties are highly tunable by in-plane strain and electric field, and large electromechanical response may occur in epitaxial PbTiO3 thin films at room temperature. Phenomenological calculations show that large electrocaloric responsivity can also be expected at room temperature by manipulating the phase transition.