Strong amplification of an electric field and electrooptical response in ultrathin heterostructures ferroelectric-linear dielectric
L. M. Blinov, V. V. Lazarev, S. G. Yudin, S. P. Palto
Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography of the RAS, 119333 Moscow, Russia
Abstract
An electroded heterostructure consisting of a dye layer sandwiched between two polymer
ferroelectric layers is discussed. The dye layer plays a role of the probe of the electric field
measured by an electroabsorption technique. Using this new method the electric field in
ferroelectric and dielectric layers can be measured separately. When an a.c. voltage is
applied to the heterostructure, the electric field in the dye layer increases 2.2 times (up to
0.55 GV/m) whereas the field in the ferroelectric decreases 2 times with respect to the
average field in the entire structure. Moreover, the dye layer sandwiched between the
ferroelectric layers may stand without breakdown the fields 5-7 times higher than a neat
reference dye layer confined between metal electrodes. Therefore, the performance of
electrooptical, electromechanical and other field controlled devices may be improved
considerably when their functional materials are placed between ferroelectrics layers.