Electric Field Structures in Thin Films: Formation and Properties

A newly discovered class of molecular materials, so-called “spontelectrics”, display spontaneous electric fields. Here we show that the novel properties of spontelectrics can be used to create composite spontelectrics, illustrating how electric fields in solid films may be structured on the nanoscale by combining layers of different spontelectric materials. This is demonstrated using the spontelectric materials nitrous oxide, toluene, isoprene, isopentane, and CF2Cl2. These yield a variety of tailored electric field structures, with individual layers harboring fields between 107 and 108 V/m. Fields may be of the same sign or of opposite sign, the latter enabling the creation of nanoscale potential wells. The formation of fields is followed using an established electron beam technique, employing the ASTRID synchrotron storage ring. The influence of temperature on heterolayer structures, displaying new Curie effects, and the nature of the interfacial region between different spontelectrics are also discussed.