Hierarchical dielectric orders in layered ferroelectrics Bi2SiO5

Electric dipole engineering is now an emerging technology for high electron-mobility transistors, ferroelectric random access memory and multiferroic devices etc. Although various studies to provide insight into dipole moment behaviour, such as phase transition, order and disorder states, have been reported, macroscopic spontaneous polarization has been mainly discussed so far. Here, visualization of the electric dipole arrangement in layered ferroelectrics Bi2SiO5 by means of combined analysis of maximum entropy charge density and electrostatic potential distribution analysis based on synchrotron radiation X-ray powder diffraction data is reported. It was found that the hierarchical dipole orders, the weak-ferroelectric and ferroelectric configurations, were observed in the Bi2O2 and the SiO3 layers, respectively, and the ferrielectric configuration was realised by the interlayer interaction. This discovery provides a new method to visualize the local polarization in ferroelectric materials.