Self-assembled heteroepitaxial nanostructures have played an important role for miniaturization of electronic devices, e.g., the ultrahigh density ferroelectric memories, and cause for great concern. Our first principle calculations predict that the materials with low formation energy of the interface ( Ef) tend to form matrix structure in self-assembled heteroepitaxial nanostructures, whereas those with high Ef form nanopillars. Under the guidance of the theoretical modeling, perovskite BiFeO3 (BFO) nanopillars are swimmingly grown into CeO2 matrix on single-crystal (001)-SrTiO3 (STO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition, where CeO2 has a lower formation energy of the interface ( Ef) than BFO. This work provides a good paradigm for controlling self-assembled nanostructures as well as the application of self-assembled ferroelectric nanoscale memory.
Keywords: CeO2−BFO; ferroelectric array; ferroelectric properties; formation energy of the interface; self-assembly.