Photoinduced Phase Transitions in Ferroelectrics

Ferroic materials naturally exhibit a rich number of functionalities, which often arise from thermally, chemically, or mechanically induced symmetry breakings or phase transitions. Based on density functional calculations, we demonstrate here that light can drive phase transitions as well in ferroelectric materials such as the perovskite oxides lead titanate and barium titanate. Phonon analysis and total energy calculations reveal that the polarization tends to vanish under illumination, to favor the emergence of nonpolar phases, potentially antiferroelectric, and exhibiting a tilt of the oxygen octahedra. Strategies to tailor photoinduced phases based on phonon instabilities in the electronic ground state are also discussed.