Low‐Pressure Mechanical Switching of Ferroelectric Domains in PbZr_0.48Ti_0.52O₃

Abstract

several mechanisms [4] including flexoelectric effect, [1] ferroelectric-ferroelastic switching [5,6] and chemical modifications on the surface [7] and in the bulk. [8,9] The electrochemical effect in the bulk can be induced by diffusion of oxygen vacancies, [10] which in turn can lead to electrostatic or Vegard strain. [4] The contribution of the aforementioned mechanisms in depicting mechanical switching of ferroelectrics has been discussed recently, [4,11] while further work is still required to gain a more complete understanding. Scanning probe-based investigations of mechanical behavior in ferroelectrics, [12] especially localized mechanical writing of nanoscale domains and mechanical erasing of electrically written domains [1] provide a suitable platform for further investigation of mechanoelectric devices [13,14] and concepts. [15,16] Ultralow pressure mechanical writing and noncontact reading might lead to new low energy electronics concepts and information storage energy costs of attojoule/bit, which has been explored for example through electrical control of magnetism concepts. [17] Mechanical switching has been reported in a range of ferroelectric materials from single crystals (BaTiO 3 , [18] (1 − x) Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3)O 3 − xPbTiO 3 (x = 0.32, 0.40) [19]) to thin films (Pb(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8)O 3 , [20,21] BaTiO 3 , [1,22] BiFeO 3

Ultralow Tip‐Force Driven Sizable‐Area Domain Manipulation through Transverse Flexoelectricity

“…A) Summary of threshold force and thickness data in various mechanical ferroelectric switching. The blue region represents the switchable range for the mechanical switching on substrate‐supported films in reported ferroelectrics (BaTiO 3, [ 14 ] TbMnO 3 , [ 16 ] PbTiO 3 , [ 28 ] BiFeO 3 , [ 15,29 ] MoS 2 , [ 30 ] PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 (PZT_1), [ 31,32 ] PbZr 0.48 Ti 0.52 O 3 (PZT_2), [ 33 ] Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 , [ 17 ] and HfO 2 [ 34 ] ), while its boundary represents the approximate threshold force to initiate domain switching. The yellow region highlights the results from the mechanical switching in suspended CIPS.…”

Mechanical Switching of Ferroelectric Domains in 33‐200 nm‐Thick Sol‐Gel‐Grown PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 Films Assisted by Nanocavities

“…This effect has been demonstrated in, for example, BaTiO 3 , [ 4,5 ] BiFeO 3 , [ 6 ] and PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 [ 7 ] or PbZr 0.52 Ti 0.48 O 3 . [ 8 ]…”

“…This effect has been demonstrated in, for example, BaTiO 3 , [4,5] BiFeO 3 , [6] and PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 [7] or PbZr 0.52 Ti 0.48 O 3 . [8] conductive layer used as a bottom electrode and deposited at 620 °C on a SrTiO 3 (STO) single crystal substrate by radio frequency sputtering. The PZT crystalline phase was obtained after a rapid thermal annealing at 650 °C under O 2 atmosphere for 1 min.…”

Mechanical Manipulation of Nano‐Twinned Ferroelectric Domain Structures for Multilevel Data Storage

“…Since 180° polarization switching was accomplished in 4.8 nm thick tetragonal BaTiO 3 thin films via mechanical manipulation, [ 25 ] considerable effort has been devoted to manipulating the polarization switching in ferroelectric thin films, for example, 3–5 nm thick PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 (001) film, 1.6–45 nm thick BaTiO 3 (001) film, 50 nm thick PbZr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 (001) film, and 10 nm thick PbZr 0.48 Ti 0.52 O 3 (001) film, and flexoelectric effect is proposed to explain the mechanical manipulation of the domain and domain wall structures. [ 25–40 ] It is accepted that using tip force turns to be an effective alternative to electric field for switching ferroelectric domains. [ 32–40 ] However, mechanical manipulation based on flexoelectricity has proved ineffective when going beyond a critical thickness (tens of nanometers), [ 40 ] because tip induced flexoelectricity is usually negligible in thick films due to the small strain gradient, and the flexoelectricity in thin films substantially decreases when the film thickness is above a certain thickness.…”