Oxide Nanophysics

Group Leader: Gustau Catalán

Prof. Gustau Catalán, leader of the ICN2 Oxide Nanophysics group

Gustau Catalán

ICREA Research Professor

gustau.catalan@icn2.cat

Group Leader

Prof. Gustau Catalán earned his degree in physics at the Universitat de Barcelona in 1997 and his PhD, also in physics, at Queen’s University of Belfast in 2001. He held research positions at the Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats in Mallorca (2002-2004), the University of Groningen (2004-2005) and the University of Cambridge (2005-2009). In 2009, he was appointed ICREA Research Professor and joined the ICN2 as leader of the Oxide Nanophysics Group. At the ICN2, with the help of an ERC Grant, he set up one of the world’s first laboratories of flexoelectricity.

Prof. Catalan’s scientific interests cover a variety of physical properties of oxides, from ferroelelectricity to metal-insulator transitions, and from flexoelectricity to domain wall physics, with emphasis on how these properties are affected by reduced size.

Publications

2021

  • Deconvolution of Phonon Scattering by Ferroelectric Domain Walls and Point Defects in a PbTiO3Thin Film Deposited in a Composition-Spread Geometry

    Bugallo D., Langenberg E., Ferreiro-Vila E., Smith E.H., Stefani C., Batlle X., Catalan G., Domingo N., Schlom D.G., Rivadulla F. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces; 13 (38): 45679 - 45685. 2021. 10.1021/acsami.1c08758. IF: 9.229

  • Direct Visualization of Anti-Ferroelectric Switching Dynamics via Electrocaloric Imaging

    Vales-Castro P., Vellvehi M., Perpiñà X., Caicedo J.M., Jordà X., Faye R., Roleder K., Kajewski D., Perez-Tomas A., Defay E., Catalan G. Advanced Electronic Materials; 7 (12, 2100380) 2021. 10.1002/aelm.202100380. IF: 7.295

  • Mechanical reading of ferroelectric polarization

    Stefani C., Langenberg E., Cordero-Edwards K., Schlom D.G., Catalan G., Domingo N. Journal of Applied Physics; 130 (7, 0059930) 2021. 10.1063/5.0059930. IF: 2.546

  • Metallic Diluted Dimerization in VO2 Tweeds

    Sandiumenge F., Rodríguez L., Pruneda M., Magén C., Santiso J., Catalan G. Advanced Materials; 33 (9, 2004374) 2021. 10.1002/adma.202004374. IF: 30.849

  • Non-linear nanoscale piezoresponse of single ZnO nanowires affected by piezotronic effect

    Lozano H., Catalán G., Esteve J., Domingo N., Murillo G. Nanotechnology; 32 (2, 025202) 2021. 10.1088/1361-6528/abb972. IF: 3.874

  • Origin of large negative electrocaloric effect in antiferroelectric PbZr O3

    Vales-Castro P., Faye R., Vellvehi M., Nouchokgwe Y., Perpiñà X., Caicedo J.M., Jordà X., Roleder K., Kajewski D., Perez-Tomas A., Defay E., Catalan G. Physical Review B; 103 (5, 054112) 2021. 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.054112. IF: 4.036

  • Piezoelectricity in nominally centrosymmetric phases

    Aktas O., Kangama M., Linyu G., Catalan G., Ding X., Zunger A., Salje E.K.H. Physical Review Research; 3 (4, 043221) 2021. 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.043221. IF: 0.000

  • Strong strain gradients and phase coexistence at the metal-insulator transition in VO2 epitaxial films

    Rodríguez L., Sandiumenge F., Frontera C., Caicedo J.M., Padilla J., Catalán G., Santiso J. Acta Materialia; 220 (117336) 2021. 10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117336. IF: 8.203

2020

  • Control of lateral composition distribution in graded films of soluble solid systems A1-xBx by partitioned dual-beam pulsed laser deposition

    Sakai J., Roque J.M.C., Vales-Castro P., Padilla-Pantoja J., Sauthier G., Catalan G., Santiso J. Coatings; 10 (6, 540) 2020. 10.3390/COATINGS10060540. IF: 2.436

  • Investigation of The Cellular Response to Bone Fractures: Evidence for Flexoelectricity

    Núñez-Toldrà R., Vasquez-Sancho F., Barroca N., Catalan G. Scientific Reports; 10 (1, 254) 2020. 10.1038/s41598-019-57121-3. IF: 3.998

  • James F. Scott (1942-2020)

    Catalan G., Dawber M., Gregg M., Morrison F., Ramesh R., Zubko P. Nature materials; 19 (6): 580. 2020. 10.1038/s41563-020-0692-x. IF: 38.663

  • Mechanical Softness of Ferroelectric 180° Domain Walls MECHANICAL SOFTNESS of FERROELECTRIC 180 DEGREE ... STEFANI CHRISTINA et al.

    Stefani C., Ponet L., Shapovalov K., Chen P., Langenberg E., Schlom D.G., Artyukhin S., Stengel M., Domingo N., Catalan G. Physical Review X; 10 (4, 041001) 2020. 10.1103/PhysRevX.10.041001. IF: 12.577

  • Photoflexoelectric effect in halide perovskites

    Shu L., Ke S., Fei L., Huang W., Wang Z., Gong J., Jiang X., Wang L., Li F., Lei S., Rao Z., Zhou Y., Zheng R.-K., Yao X., Wang Y., Stengel M., Catalan G. Nature Materials; 19 (6): 605 - 609. 2020. 10.1038/s41563-020-0659-y. IF: 38.663

  • Self-Pixelation Through Fracture in VO2 Thin Films

    Laura Rodríguez, Elena del Corro, Michele Conroy, Kalani Moore, Felip Sandiumenge, Neus Domingo, José Santiso, Gustau Catalan Acs Applied Electronic Materials; 2 (5): 1433 - 1439. 2020. 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00199. IF: 0.000

  • Strain-Engineered Ferroelastic Structures in PbTiO3 Films and Their Control by Electric Fields

    Langenberg E., Paik H., Smith E.H., Nair H.P., Hanke I., Ganschow S., Catalan G., Domingo N., Schlom D.G. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces; 12 (18): 20691 - 20703. 2020. 10.1021/acsami.0c04381. IF: 8.758

  • Temperature-independent giant dielectric response in transitional BaTiO3 thin films

    Everhardt A.S., Denneulin T., Grünebohm A., Shao Y.-T., Ondrejkovic P., Zhou S., Domingo N., Catalan G., Hlinka J., Zuo J.-M., Matzen S., Noheda B. Applied Physics Reviews; 7 (1, 011402) 2020. 10.1063/1.5122954. IF: 17.054

2018

  • A Solar Transistor and Photoferroelectric Memory

    Pérez-Tomás A., Lima A., Billon Q., Shirley I., Catalan G., Lira-Cantú M. Advanced Functional Materials; 28 (17, 1707099) 2018. 10.1002/adfm.201707099. IF: 13.325

  • Flexoelectricity in antiferroelectrics

    Vales-Castro P., Roleder K., Zhao L., Li J.-F., Kajewski D., Catalan G. Applied Physics Letters; 113 (13, 132903) 2018. 10.1063/1.5044724. IF: 3.495

  • Flexoelectricity in Bones

    Vasquez-Sancho F., Abdollahi A., Damjanovic D., Catalan G. Advanced Materials; 30 (9, 1705316) 2018. 10.1002/adma.201705316. IF: 21.950

  • Piezoelectric Mimicry of Flexoelectricity

    Abdollahi A., Vásquez-Sancho F., Catalan G. Physical Review Letters; 121 (20, 205502) 2018. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.205502. IF: 8.839

2017

  • Domain wall magnetoresistance in BiFeO3 thin films measured by scanning probe microscopy

    Domingo N., Farokhipoor S., Santiso J., Noheda B., Catalan G. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 29 (33, 334003) 2017. 10.1088/1361-648X/aa7a24. IF: 2.678

  • Ferroelectrics as Smart Mechanical Materials

    Cordero-Edwards K., Domingo N., Abdollahi A., Sort J., Catalan G. Advanced Materials; 29 (37, 1702210) 2017. 10.1002/adma.201702210. IF: 19.791

  • On the persistence of polar domains in ultrathin ferroelectric capacitors

    Zubko P., Lu H., Bark C.-W., Martí X., Santiso J., Eom C.-B., Catalan G., Gruverman A. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 29 (28, 284001) 2017. 10.1088/1361-648X/aa73c3. IF: 2.678

  • The profile of researchers moving towards scientific entrepreneurship

    Marti X., Fina I., Catalan G., Veà A. Supporting University Ventures in Nanotechnology, Biomaterials and Magnetic Sensing Applications: Pol; : 143 - 157. 2017. 10.1007/978-3-319-61237-9_7.

2016

  • A flexoelectric microelectromechanical system on silicon

    Bhaskar U.K., Banerjee N., Abdollahi A., Wang Z., Schlom D.G., Rijnders G., Catalan G. Nature Nanotechnology; 11 (3): 263 - 266. 2016. 10.1038/nnano.2015.260. IF: 35.267

  • Above-Bandgap Photovoltages in Antiferroelectrics

    Pérez-Tomás A., Lira-Cantú M., Catalan G. Advanced Materials; 28 (43): 9644 - 9647. 2016. 10.1002/adma.201603176. IF: 18.960

  • Enhanced flexoelectric-like response in oxide semiconductors

    Narvaez J., Vasquez-Sancho F., Catalan G. Nature; 538 (7624): 219 - 221. 2016. 10.1038/nature19761. IF: 38.138

  • Ferroelectric Domain Structures in Low-Strain BaTiO3

    Everhardt A.S., Matzen S., Domingo N., Catalan G., Noheda B. Advanced Electronic Materials; 2 (1, 1500214) 2016. 10.1002/aelm.201500214. IF: 0.000

  • Flexoelectric MEMS: Towards an electromechanical strain diode

    Bhaskar U.K., Banerjee N., Abdollahi A., Solanas E., Rijnders G., Catalan G. Nanoscale; 8 (3): 1293 - 1298. 2016. 10.1039/c5nr06514c. IF: 7.760

2015

  • Dielectric relaxation in YMnO3 single crystals

    Adem U., Mufti N., Nugroho A.A., Catalan G., Noheda B., Palstra T.T.M. Journal of Alloys and Compounds; 638: 228 - 232. 2015. 10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.02.207. IF: 2.999

  • Ferroelectrics: Negative capacitance detected

    Catalan G., Jimenez D., Gruverman A. Nature Materials; 14 (2): 137 - 139. 2015. 10.1038/nmat4195. IF: 36.503

  • Fracture toughening and toughness asymmetry induced by flexoelectricity

    Abdollahi A., Peco C., Millán D., Arroyo M., Catalan G., Arias I. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 92 (9, 094101) 2015. 10.1103/PhysRevB.92.094101. IF: 3.736

  • Giant reversible nanoscale piezoresistance at room temperature in Sr2IrO4 thin films

    Domingo N., López-Mir L., Paradinas M., Holy V., Železný J., Yi D., Suresha S.J., Liu J., Rayan Serrao C., Ramesh R., Ocal C., Martí X., Catalan G. Nanoscale; 7 (8): 3453 - 3459. 2015. 10.1039/c4nr06954d. IF: 7.394

  • Large Flexoelectric Anisotropy in Paraelectric Barium Titanate

    Narvaez J., Saremi S., Hong J., Stengel M., Catalan G. Physical Review Letters; 115 (3, 037601) 2015. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.037601. IF: 7.512

  • Mechanical tuning of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface conductivity

    Sharma P., Ryu S., Burton J.D., Paudel T.R., Bark C.W., Huang Z., Ariando, Tsymbal E.Y., Catalan G., Eom C.B., Gruverman A. Nano Letters; 15 (5): 3547 - 3551. 2015. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01021. IF: 13.592

  • Nanomechanics of flexoelectric switching

    Očenášek J., Lu H., Bark C.W., Eom C.B., Alcalá J., Catalan G., Gruverman A. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 92 (3, 035417) 2015. 10.1103/PhysRevB.92.035417. IF: 3.736

  • Nanoscale conductive pattern of the homoepitaxial AlGaN/GaN transistor

    Pérez-Tomás A., Catalàn G., Fontserè A., Iglesias V., Chen H., Gammon P.M., Jennings M.R., Thomas M., Fisher C.A., Sharma Y.K., Placidi M., Chmielowska M., Chenot S., Porti M., Nafría M., Cordier Y. Nanotechnology; 26 (11, 115203) 2015. 10.1088/0957-4484/26/11/115203. IF: 3.821

  • Persistence of ferroelectricity above the Curie temperature at the surface of Pb(Z n1/3 N b2/3) O3-12%PbTi O3

    Domingo N., Bagués N., Santiso J., Catalan G. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 91 (9, 094111) 2015. 10.1103/PhysRevB.91.094111. IF: 3.736

2014

  • Origin of the enhanced flexoelectricity of relaxor ferroelectrics

    Narvaez, J.; Catalan, G. Applied Physics Letters; 104 (16) 2014. 10.1063/1.4871686. IF: 3.515

  • Physics of Ferroic and Multiferroic Domain Walls

    Catalan G. Springer Series in Materials Science; 198: 225 - 247. 2014. 10.1007/978-3-642-55375-2_9.

2013

  • Flexoelectric effect in solids

    Zubko, P.; Catalan, G.; Tagantsev, A.K. Annual Review of Materials Research; 43: 387 - 421. 2013. 10.1146/annurev-matsci-071312-121634. IF: 16.179

  • Local properties of the surface layer(s) of BiFeO3 single crystals

    Domingo, N.; Narvaez, J.; Alexe, M.; Catalan, G. Journal of Applied Physics; 113 2013. 10.1063/1.4801974. IF: 2.210

  • Thickness scaling of ferroelastic domains in PbTiO3 films on DyScO3

    Nesterov, O.; Matzen, S.; Magen, C.; Vlooswijk, A.H.G.; Catalan, G.; Noheda, B. Applied Physics Letters; 103 2013. 10.1063/1.4823536. IF: 3.794

2012

  • Domain wall nanoelectronics

    Catalan, G.; Seidel, J.; Ramesh, R.; Scott, J.F. Reviews of Modern Physics; 84: 119 - 156. 2012. 10.1103/RevModPhys.84.119.

  • Elastic and anelastic relaxations in the relaxor ferroelectric Pb(Mg 1/3Nb 2/3)O 3: I. Strain analysis and a static order parameter

    Carpenter, M.A.; Bryson, J.F.J.; Catalan, G.; Howard, C.J. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 24 2012. 10.1088/0953-8984/24/4/045901.

  • Elastic and anelastic relaxations in the relaxor ferroelectric Pb(Mg 1/3Nb 2/3)O 3: II. Strainorder parameter coupling and dynamic softening mechanisms

    Carpenter, M.A.; Bryson, J.F.J.; Catalan, G.; Zhang, S.J.; Donnelly, N.J. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 24 2012. 10.1088/0953-8984/24/4/045902.

  • Magnetotransport at domain walls in BiFeO 3

    He, Q.; Yeh, C.-H.; Yang, J.-C.; Singh-Bhalla, G.; Liang, C.-W.; Chiu, P.-W.; Catalan, G.; Martin, L.W.; Chu, Y.-H.; Scott, J.F.; Ramesh, R. Physical Review Letters; 108 2012. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.067203.

  • Mechanical Writing of Ferroelectric Polarization

    Lu, H. ; Bark, C.W.; Esque de los Ojos, D.; Alcala, J. ; Eom, C. B.; Catalan, G. ; Gruverman, A. SCIENCE; 336 (6077): 59 - 61. 2012. DOI: 10.1126/science.1218693.

  • Structural, spectroscopic, magnetic and electrical characterization of Ca-doped polycrystalline bismuth ferrite, Bi 1xCa xFeO 3x/2 (x0.1)

    Sardar, K.; Hong, J.; Catalan, G.; Biswas, P.K.; Lees, M.R.; Walton, R.I.; Scott, J.F.; Redfern, S.A.T. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 24 2012. 10.1088/0953-8984/24/4/045905.

  • Surface phase transitions in BiFeO 3 below room temperature

    Jarrier, R.; Marti, X.; Herrero-Albillos, J.; Ferrer, P.; Haumont, R.; Gemeiner, P.; Geneste, G.; Berthet, P.; Schülli, T.; Cevc, P.; Blinc, R.; Wong, S.S.; Park, T.-J.; Alexe, M.; Carpenter, M.A.; Scott, J.F.; Catalan, G.; Dkhil, B. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 85 2012. 10.1103/PhysRevB.85.184104.

2011

  • Flexoelectric rotation of polarization in ferroelectric thin films.

    Catalan, G. ; Lubk, A.; Vlooswijk, A. H. G.; Snoeck, E.; Magen, C. ; Janssens, A.; Rispens, G.; Rijnders, G.; Blank, D. H. A.; Noheda, B. Nature Materials; 10: 963. 2011. .

  • Skin layer of BiFeO3 single crystals

    Martí, X.; Ferrer, P.; Herrero-Albillos, J.; Narvaez, J.; Holy, V.; Barrett, N.; Alexe, M.; Catalan, G. Physical Review Letters; 106 2011. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.236101.

2010

  • Comment on "Nanometer resolution piezoresponse force microscopy to study deep submicron ferroelectric and ferroelastic domains" [Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 162903 (2009)]----NO ES ARTICULO

    Vlooswijk, A.H.G.; Catalan, G.; Noheda, B. Applied Physics Letters; 97 2010. 10.1063/1.3467005.

  • Electric-field control of the metal-insulator transition in ultrathin NdNiO3 films

    Scherwitzl, R.; Zubko, P.; Lezama, I.G.; Ono, S.; Morpurgo, A.F.; Catalan, G.; Triscone, J.-M. Advanced Materials; 22: 5517 - 5520. 2010. 10.1002/adma.201003241.

  • Landau theory of domain wall magnetoelectricity

    Daraktchiev, M.; Catalan, G.; Scott, J.F. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 81 2010. 10.1103/PhysRevB.81.224118.

  • Neutron diffraction study of the BiFeO3 spin cycloid at low temperature

    Herrero-Albillos, J.; Catalan, G.; Rodriguez-Velamazan, J.A.; Viret, M.; Colson, D.; Scott, J.F. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 22: 256001 - 256005. 2010. 10.1088/0953-8984/22/25/256001.

  • The β-to-γ transition in BiFeO 3: A powder neutron diffraction study

    Arnold, D.C.; Knight, K.S.; Catalan, G.; Redfern, S.A.T.; Scott, J.F.; Lightfoot, P.; Morrison, F.D. Advanced Functional Materials; 20: 2116 - 2123. 2010. 10.1002/adfm.201000118.

  • The flexoelectricity of barium and strontium titanates from first principles

    Hong, J.; Catalan, G.; Scott, J.F.; Artacho, E. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 22 2010. 10.1088/0953-8984/22/11/112201.

2009

  • Domains in Ferroelectric Nanodots

    A. Schilling; D. Byrne; G. Catalan; K. G. Webber; Y. A. Genenko; G. S. Wu; J. F. Scott; J. M. Gregg Nano Letters; 9: 3359. 2009. .

  • Effect of chemical substitution on the Néel temperature of multiferroic Bi1¿xCaxFeO3

    G. Catalan; K. Sardar; N. S. Church; J. F. Scott; R. J. Harrison; S. A. T. Redfern Physical Review B; 79: 212415. 2009. 10.1103/PhysRevB.79.212415.

  • Effect of wall thickness on the ferroelastic domain size of BaTiO3

    G. Catalan; I. Lukyanchuk; A. Schilling; J. M. Gregg; J. F. Scott Journal of Materials Science; 44: 5307. 2009. 10.1007/s10853-009-3554-0.

  • Elastic and electrical anomalies at low-temperature phase transitions in BiFeO3

    S. A. T. Redfern; Can Wang; J. W. Hong; G. Catalan; J. F. Scott Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 20: 452205. 2009. 10.1088/0953-8984/20/45/452205.

  • Epitaxial TbMnO3 thin films on SrTiO3 substrates: a structural study

    C. J. M. Daumont; D. Mannix; S. Venkatesan; G. Catalan; D. Rubi; B. J. Kooi; J. Th. M. De Hosson; B. Noheda Journal of Physics Condensed Matter; 21: 182001. 2009. 10.1088/0953-8984/21/18/182001.

  • Origin of ferroelastic domains in free-standing single-crystal ferroelectric films

    I. A. Luk¿yanchuk; A. Schilling; J.M. Gregg; G. Catalan; J.F. Scott Physical Review B; 79: 144111. 2009. 10.1103/PhysRevB.79.144111.

  • Physics and applications of BiFeO3

    G. Catalan; J. F. Scott Advanced Materials; 21: 2463 - 2485. 2009. 10.1002/adma.200802849.

2008

  • Conduction at domain walls in oxide multiferroics

    J. Seidel; L. W. Martin; Q. He; Q. Zhan; Y.-H. Chu; A. Rother; M. E. Hawkridge; P. Maksymovych; P. Yu; M. Gajek; N. Balke; S. V. Kalinin; S. Gemming; H. Lichte; F. Wang; G. Catalan; J. F. Scott; N. A. Spaldin; J. Orenstein; R. Ramesh Nature Materials; 8: 229 - 234. 2008. 10.1038/nmat2373.

  • Conformal oxide coating of carbon nanotubes

    S. Kawasaki; G. Catalan; H. J. Fan; M. M. Saad; J. M. Gregg; M. A. Correa-Duarte; J. Rybczynski; F. D. Morrison; T. Tatsuta; O. Tsuji; and J. F. Scott Applied Physics Letters; 92 (5): 53109. 2008. 10.1063/1.2841710.

  • Fractal walls and domain size scaling in thin films of multiferroic BiFeO3

    G. Catalan; H. Béa; S. Fusil; M. Bibes; P. Paruch; A. Barthélémy; and J. F. Scott Physical Review Letters; 100: 27602. 2008. 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.027602.

  • Landau Theory of Multiferroic Domain Walls

    M. Daraktchiev; G. Catalan; J. F. Scott Ferroelectrics; 375: 122 - 131. 2008. 10.1080/00150190802437969.

  • Progress in perovskite nickelate research

    G. Catalan Phase Transitions; 81: 729. 2008. 10.1080/01411590801992463.

  • ß phase and ¿-ß metal-insulator transition in multiferroic BiFeO3

    R. Palai; R. S. Katiyar; H. Schmid; P. Tissot; S. J. Clark; J. Robertson; S. A. Redfern; G. Catalan; J. F. Scott Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics; 77: 14110. 2008. 10.1103/PhysRevB.77.014110.

  • Solution-process coating of vertical ZnO nanowires with ferroelectrics

    S. Kawasaki; H. J. Fan; G. Catalan; F. D. Morrison; T. Tatsuta; O. Tsuji; J. F Scott Nanotechnology; 19: 375302. 2008. 10.1088/0957-4484/19/37/375302.