The intrinsic mobile interfaces in ferroelectrics-the domain walls can drive and enhance diverse ferroelectric properties, essential for modern applications. Control over the motion of domain walls is of high practical importance. Here we analyse theoretically and show experimentally epitaxial ferroelectric films, where mobile domain walls coexist and interact with immobile growth-induced interfaces-columnar boundaries. Whereas these boundaries do not disturb the long-range crystal order, they affect the behaviour of domain walls in a peculiar selective manner. The columnar boundaries substantially modify the behaviour of non-ferroelastic domains walls, but have negligible impact on the ferroelastic ones. The results suggest that introduction of immobile boundaries into ferroelectric films is a viable method to modify domain structures and dynamic responses at nano-scale that may serve to functionalization of a broader range of ferroelectric films where columnar boundaries naturally appear as a result of the 3D growth.

CNRS Université de Bordeaux ICMCB UPR 9048 33600 Pessac France

CREAL SA Chemin du Paqueret 1A CH 1025 Saint Sulpice Switzerland

Institute of Physics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Na Slovance 2 18221 Praha 8 Czech Republic

Institutut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona ICMAB CSIC Campus UAB 08193 Bellaterra Spain

Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science Lavrent'eva av 1 Novosibirsk Russia

Microelectronics Research Unit University of Oulu P O Box 4500 90014 Oulu Finland

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