Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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FM: Fachverband Funktionsmaterialien
FM 12: German-French Focus Session: Materials Research in Polar Oxides – From Domain Engineering to Photonic and Electronic Devices I
FM 12.10: Talk
Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 12:30–12:45, BEY/0138
Polarity and polarons in WO3 through epitaxial shear strain — •Ewout van der Veer1, Martin Sarott1,2, Jack Eckstein3,5, Stijn Feringa1, Dennis van der Veen1, Johanna van Gent González1, Majid Ahmadi1,2, Horatio Cox1,2, Ellen Kiens4, Gertjan Koster4, Bart Kooi1,2, Michael Carpenter3, Ekhard Salje3, and Beatriz Noheda1,2 — 1ZIAM, Uni. of Groningen, Netherlands (E. vd V. now: Fac. of Phys., UDE, Duisburg, Germany and RC FEMS, Bochum, Germany) — 2CogniGron, Uni. of Groningen, Netherlands — 3Dept. of Earth Sci., Uni. of Cambridge, UK — 4MESA+ Inst., Uni. of Twente, Netherlands — 5Center for Nano. Mater. Sci., ORNL, USA
Tungsten oxides have been investigated for gas sensing, catalytic and electrochromic capabilities. Epitaxial thin films of WO3 on (110)-oriented YAlO3 even exhibit piezoelectricity and conductivity at monoclinic twin walls due to local strain gradients. We grew epitaxial films of WO3 on (001)YAlO3 by pulsed laser deposition and reveal a previously unreported polar phase by imposing epitaxial shear strain, stabilizing a triclinic structure up to large film thicknesses and elevated temperatures. The films have periodic in-plane domains with needle bifurcations and enhanced conductivity at domain walls. STEM shows that these walls exhibit a reduction of a structural distortion, evidence for recently predicted anti-distortive polarons. Our films are structurally and functionally different from known bulk phases and previous epitaxial films due to subtle epitaxial interactions. They are candidates for oxide electronics, neuromorphic computing and catalysis.
Keywords: WO3; polar domains; epitaxial strain