Multifunctionality of Li₂SrNb₂O₇: Memristivity, Tunable Rectification, Ferroelasticity, and Ferroelectricity

Layered Li₂SrNb₂O₇, an inorganic oxide in its bulk single-crystalline form, is experimentally demonstrated to exhibit multiple structural facets such as ferroelasticity, ferroelectricity, and antiferroelectricity. The transition from a room temperature (RT) centrosymmetric structure to a low-temperature out-of-plane ferroelectric and in-plane antiferroelectric structure and the low-temperature (LT) ferroelectric domain configuration are unveiled in TEM, piezoresponse force microscopy, and polarization loop studies. Li₂SrNb₂O₇ also exhibits highly tunable ferroelasticity and excellent Li⁺ in-plane conduction, which leads to a giant in-plane memristor behavior and an in-plane electronic conductivity increase by three orders of magnitude by electric poling at room RT). The accumulation of Li⁺ vacancies at the crystal–electrode interface is visualized using in situ optical microscopy. The Li-ionic biased state shows a clear in-plane rectification effect combined with a significant relaxation upon time at RT. Relaxation can be fully suppressed at LTs such as 200 K, and utilizing an electric field cooling, a stable rectification can be achieved at 200 K. The results shed light on the selective control of multifunctionalities such as ferroelasticity, ferroelectricity, and ionic-migration-mediated effects (a memristor effect and rectification) in a single-phase bulk material utilizing, for example, different directions, temperatures, frequencies, and magnitudes of electric field.