The Microscopic Structure of Stacking Faults in Sr$_2$NaNb$_5$O$_{15}$

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sjökvist, Robin, Xie, Yining, Aslam, Zabeada, Brown, Andy P., Bristowe, Nicholas C., Senn, Mark S., Beanland, Richard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866914149809782784
author Sjökvist, Robin
Xie, Yining
Aslam, Zabeada
Brown, Andy P.
Bristowe, Nicholas C.
Senn, Mark S.
Beanland, Richard
author_facet Sjökvist, Robin
Xie, Yining
Aslam, Zabeada
Brown, Andy P.
Bristowe, Nicholas C.
Senn, Mark S.
Beanland, Richard
contents Stacking faults and other topological defects in ferroics can have a significant influence on the electronic and mechanical properties of the material. Here, regular stacking faults in the tetragonal tungsten bronze material Sr$_2$NaNb$_5$O$_{15}$ are investigated through transmission electron microscopy, symmetry mode analysis and machine-learned force-field calculations. It is shown that the faults, with a fault vector of $\frac{1}{4}[\bar{2}12]_o$, annihilate in sets of four in the material, owing to the $\frac{1}{4}$ unit cell displacement along the b-axis. The four resulting domains emerge as four possible directions of the S$_3$ order parameter, related to NbO$_6$ octahedral tilts in the material. Force-field calculations reveal that the stacking faults are likely placed at positions where the octahedra in neighbouring domains have similar magnitudes of rotation, and that the estimated stacking fault energy is 46 mJ/m$^2$. The investigation shows that the stacking faults have a significant local effect on the polar modes present in the structure, and therefore could affect the ferroelectric properties.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_06983
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Microscopic Structure of Stacking Faults in Sr$_2$NaNb$_5$O$_{15}$
Sjökvist, Robin
Xie, Yining
Aslam, Zabeada
Brown, Andy P.
Bristowe, Nicholas C.
Senn, Mark S.
Beanland, Richard
Materials Science
Stacking faults and other topological defects in ferroics can have a significant influence on the electronic and mechanical properties of the material. Here, regular stacking faults in the tetragonal tungsten bronze material Sr$_2$NaNb$_5$O$_{15}$ are investigated through transmission electron microscopy, symmetry mode analysis and machine-learned force-field calculations. It is shown that the faults, with a fault vector of $\frac{1}{4}[\bar{2}12]_o$, annihilate in sets of four in the material, owing to the $\frac{1}{4}$ unit cell displacement along the b-axis. The four resulting domains emerge as four possible directions of the S$_3$ order parameter, related to NbO$_6$ octahedral tilts in the material. Force-field calculations reveal that the stacking faults are likely placed at positions where the octahedra in neighbouring domains have similar magnitudes of rotation, and that the estimated stacking fault energy is 46 mJ/m$^2$. The investigation shows that the stacking faults have a significant local effect on the polar modes present in the structure, and therefore could affect the ferroelectric properties.
title The Microscopic Structure of Stacking Faults in Sr$_2$NaNb$_5$O$_{15}$
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.06983