Size-Dependent Polar Ordering in Colloidal GeTe Nanocrystals

The question of the nature and stability of polar ordering in nanoscale ferroelectrics is examined with colloidal nanocrystals of germanium telluride (GeTe). We provide atomic-scale evidence for room-temperature polar ordering in individual nanocrystals using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and demonstrate a reversible, size-dependent polar-nonpolar phase transition of displacive character in nanocrystal ensembles. A substantial linear component of the distortion is observed, which is in contrast with theoretical reports predicting a toroidal state.