20.500.12556/DiRROS-24876 Flexoelectric polarization enhancement in paraelectric ▫$BaHfO_3$▫ via strain gradient engineering Flexoelectricity – polarization induced by strain gradients – offers a route to polar functionality in centrosymmetric dielectrics, where traditional piezoelectric effects are absent. This study investigates the flexoelectric effect in epitaxial BaHfO3 (BHO) thin films, a centrosymmetric and paraelectric perovskite. While a large lattice mismatch induces defect-driven relaxation, a coherently grown BHO film undergoes elastic relaxation, forming intrinsic strain gradients exceeding 105 m−1. A 29-fold enhancement in spontaneous polarization is observed at an electric field of 4 MV cm−1 for BHO exhibiting a strain gradient compared to relaxed BHO. This enhancement is attributed to flexoelectric coupling, which is isolated from ferroelectric and piezoelectric contributions due to the centrosymmetric nature and the absence of phase transitions in BHO. The findings establish a clear link between engineered strain gradients and enhanced polarizability in oxide thin films, offering a benchmark system for deconvoluting the flexoelectric effect from other polar effects. These results provide a basis for exploiting flexoelectricity in dielectric devices and advance the fundamental understanding of strain-coupled phenomena in functional oxides. condensed matter physics flexoelectricity strain gradients epitaxial oxide thin films fleksopolarizacija napetostni gradienti epitoksialne oksidne tanke plasti true false true Wiley ZDA Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © 2025 The Author(s). Neznano 2025-12-23 10:54:00 2025-12-23 10:54:01 2025-12-24 04:01:12 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Soavtorja iz Slovenije: Nina Daneu, Tina Radoševič; Opis vira z dne 22. 12. 2025; str. 1-9 iss. e07756 16 Dec. 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2025-06-27 2025-11-19 2025-12-16 538.9 1613-6829 10.1002/smll.202507756 262624003 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202507756 1 51872a46-dfe5-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=37221 RAZ_Piecuch_Timo_2025.pdf RAZ_Piecuch_Timo_2025.pdf 1 7E6C3F4D02DEE212A0DDA2F0840A8FB3 234b4f44f675204f032a99f086cb6cb809f456b9feba4da235f981d4cd519084 b5339e48-dfe5-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=37223 Institut Jožef Stefan 0 0 0