Strain Induced Metastable Phase and Phase Revolution in PbTiO3-CoFe204 Nanocomposite Film

An inter-component epitaxial strain-induced PbTiOa metastable phase is observed in a PbTiO3-GoFe2O4 epitaxial composite film, corresponding to the dielectric anomaly reported previously. High-resolution synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction and first principles calculation demonstrate the coexistence of different PbTi03 phases, even a possible morphotropie phase boundary in the film, elucidating the underlying microscopic rneehanism of the formation of Pb TiO3 metastable phase. This sheds light on the design and manipulation of electromechanical properties of epitaxial films, through the strain engineering.