Coupling of bias-induced crystallographic shear planes with charged domain walls in ferroelectric oxide thin films

Polar discontinuity at interfaces plays deterministic roles in charge transport, magnetism, and even superconductivity of functional oxides. To date, most polar discontinuity problems have been explored in heterointerfaces between two dissimilar materials. Here, we show that charged domain walls (CDWs) in epitaxial thin films of ferroelectric PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 are strongly coupled to polar interfaces through the formation of 12〈101〉{h0l}- type …