Polar State in Freestanding Strontium Titanate Nanoparticles
  Monodispersed strontium titanate nanoparticles were prepared and studied in detail. It is found that ~10 nm as-prepared stoichiometric nanoparticles are in a polar structural state (with possibly ferroelectric properties) over a broad temperature range. A tetragonal structure, with possible reduction of the electronic hybridization is found as the particle size is reduced. In the 10 nm particles, no change in the local Ti-off centering is seen between 20 and 300 K. The results indicate that nanoscale motifs of SrTiO3 may be utilized in data storage as assembled nano-particle arrays in applications where chemical stability, temperature stability and low toxicity are critical issues. 
Trevor A. Tyson, Tian Yu, Mark Croft, Megan E. Scofield, Dara   Bobb-Semple, Jing Tao, Cherno Jaye, Daniel Fischer and Stani...
cond-mat.mtrl-sci