Controlling Polarization Dynamics in a Liquid Environment: From Localized to Macroscopic Switching in Ferroelectrics

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2007 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.247603· OSTI ID:931470

Rodriguez, Brian J ^[1]; Jesse, Stephen ^[1]; Baddorf, Arthur P ^[1]; Kim, S. -H. ^[2]; Kalinin, Sergei V ^[1]

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1. ORNL
2. INOSTEK Inc., Gyeonggi, Korea

The effect of disorder on polarization switching in ferroelectric materials is studied using piezoresponse force microscopy in a liquid environment. The spatial extent of the electric field created by a biased tip is controlled by the choice of medium, resulting in a transition from localized switching dictated by tip radius, to uniform switching across the film. In the localized regime, the formation of fractal domains has been observed with dimensionality controlled by the length scale of the frozen disorder. In the nonlocal regime, preferential nucleation at defect sites and the presence of long-range correlations has been observed.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 931470
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 89; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
FERROELECTRIC MATERIALS
DEFECTS
ORDER PARAMETERS
MICROSCOPY
NUCLEATION
POLARIZATION