Enhancement of Polarization Properties of Bulk PbTiO3 by Engineering Strain

The effect of strain (up to 8%) on the polarization of bulk PbTiO3 is clarified, in which the focus is put on the ferroelectric hysteresis loop. The shell model, a powerful simulation tool for calculating electric polarization, is developed. The results obtained show that the ferroelectric hysteresis loop is expanded or shrunk under the strain. Besides, the study also points out two main results which have potential applications in practice. (1) The remanent polarization is enhanced significantly under the compressive biaxial strain (1.68 times). (2) The ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition can be achieved under the compressive uniaxial strain (at 8%).