Resonance Enhancement in Piezoresponse Force Microscopy: Maping Electromechanical Activity, Contact Stiffness, and Q-Factor

Journal Article · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2005 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2221496· OSTI ID:1001696

Jesse, Stephen ^[1]; Mirman, B ^[2]; Kalinin, Sergei V ^[1]

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1. ORNL
2. Suffolk University, Boston

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and spectroscopy of domain structure and switching dynamics at small excitation voltages require resonance enhancement of the surface displacements. The contact stiffness depends strongly on local elastic properties and topography resulting in significant variations of the resonant frequency. Moreover, the resonant response is determined both by the Q factor and the electromechanical activity. Here we develop a resonance-enhanced PFM that allows mapping of the local electromechanical activity, contact stiffness, and loss factor, thus avoiding limitations inherent to conventional frequency tracking. We anticipate that this method will be instrumental in imaging weakly piezoelectric materials and probing inelastic phenomena in ferroelectrics.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: SC USDOE - Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1001696
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 89; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
DOMAIN STRUCTURE
ELASTICITY
EXCITATION
FLEXIBILITY
MICROSCOPY
RESONANCE
SPECTROSCOPY
TOPOGRAPHY