Ultrahigh energy storage density in epitaxial AlN/ScN superlattices

Letter

Ultrahigh energy storage density in epitaxial AlN/ScN superlattices

Zhijun Jiang, Bin Xu, Hongjun Xiang, and L. Bellaiche

Phys. Rev. Materials 5, L072401 – Published 8 July 2021

Abstract

Dielectric and antiferroelectric materials are particularly promising for high-power energy storage applications. However, relatively low energy density greatly hinders their usage in storage technologies. Here, we report first-principles-based calculations predicting that epitaxial and initially nonpolar AlN/ScN superlattices can achieve an ultrahigh energy density of up to $200 J / {cm}^{3}$ , accompanied by an ideal efficiency of 100%. We also show that high energy density requires that the system be neither too close nor too far from a ferroelectric phase transition under zero electric field. A phenomenological model is further proposed to rationalize such striking features.

Received 1 December 2020
Accepted 28 June 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.L072401

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Dielectric properties Energy storage Epitaxial strain Ferroelectricity Strain

Superlattices

Density functional theory First-principles calculations

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Zhijun Jiang ^1,2,3, Bin Xu ^4,*, Hongjun Xiang^2,5,6,†, and L. Bellaiche³

¹MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
²Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences (Ministry of Education), State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
³Physics Department and Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, USA
⁴Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
⁵Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China
⁶Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, Shanghai 200232, China