Title: Enhancement of Local Piezoresponse in Polymer Ferroelectrics via Nanoscale Control of Microstructure

Abstract

Polymer ferroelectrics are flexible and lightweight electromechanical materials that are widely studied due to their potential application as sensors, actuators, and energy harvesters. However, one of the biggest challenges is their low piezoelectric coefficient. Here, we report a mechanical annealing effect based on local pressure induced by a nanoscale tip that enhances the local piezoresponse. This process can control the nanoscale material properties over a microscale area at room temperature. We attribute this improvement to the formation and growth of beta-phase extended chain crystals via sliding diffusion and crystal alignment along the scan axis under high mechanical stress. We believe that this technique can be useful for local enhancement of piezoresponse in ferroelectric polymer thin films.

Authors:

Choi, Yoon-Young ^[1]; Sharma, Pankaj ^[2]; Phatak, Charudatta ^[1]; Gosztola, David J. ^[3]; Liu, Yunya ^[4]; Lee, Joonseok ^[3]; Lee, Byeongdu ^[5]; Li, Jiangyu ^[6]; Gruverman, Alexei ^[2]; Ducharme, Stephen ^[2]; Hong, Seungbum ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, United States
3. Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
4. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiangtan University, Hunan 411105, People’s Republic of China
5. X-ray Sciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
6. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States

Publication Date:

Thu Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2015

Research Org.:

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1172270

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1357171

Grant/Contract Number:  

LDRD FY2014-063-R1; User Facilities under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357; AC02-06CH11357

Resource Type:

Journal Article: Published Article

Journal Name:

ACS Nano

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Volume: 9 Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 1936-0851

Publisher:

American Chemical Society

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; P(VDF-TrFE ); ferroelectric polymers; mechanical annealing effect; piezoresponse hysteresis loops