Towards ferroelectric and multiferroic nanostructures and their characterisation

Multiple NaNbO3/Nb2O5 Heterostructure Nanotubes: A New Class of Ferroelectric/Semiconductor Nanomaterials

“…5a). 29, 30 As‐prepared samples were dispersed in acetone and spread on a surface of a Pt film to produce individually lying heterostructure nanotubes with a diameter of around 500 nm and several outgrowths that are used as markers for NaNbO 3 nanoplates (Fig. 5b).…”

Piezoresponse force microscopy and magnetic force microscopy characterization of γ-Fe2O3–BiFeO3 nanocomposite/Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12 multiferroic bilayers

“…Hysteresis (M-H) loops are measured with the field applied along both the in-plane (IP) and out-of plane (OP) directions. Local ferroelectric and magnetic domain characterizations were performed using scanning probe techniques, viz., piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) with both out-of-plane and in-plane domain detection for ferroelectric properties, and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) to detect the magnetic domain structure [8,9]. In the following, we present the PFM signal as the mixed amplitude and phase response, i.e.…”

“…We used a Co/Crcoated tip for both PFM and MFM techniques. It should be mentioned here that MFM of non-conducting samples is also sensitive to electrostatic interactions, therefore special care should be taken when interpreting the MFM data [8].…”

Ferroelectric switching in Bi4Ti3O12nanorods

“…We used an atomic force microscope (dI-Enviroscope, now bruker aXs, santa barbara, ca) equipped with conductive cantilevers and tips [28]. We first employed medium-stiff cantilevers (pt/Ir-coated, k = 1 to 5 n/m; nsc36, mikromasch, Tallinn, Estonia), then soft cantilevers, (cr/au-coated, csc 38, mikromasch) to reduce the contact force applied during the measurements.…”

“…), has been invited to speak at more than 130 international conferences, and has given more than 130 seminars and colloquia in 37 countries on all inhabited continents. His publications have been cited more than 2700 times and his H index is 28 Alain Pignolet (IEEE member) earned his bachelor's degree in engineering physics and his ph.d. degree in physics from the École polytechnique Fédérale de lausanne (EpFl), switzerland, in February 1986 and april 1992, respectively. He joined the Ibm research division (Thomas Watson research center, yorktown Heights, ny) as a postdoctoral researcher and began working on high-permittivity relaxor materials, then moved to the materials research laboratory, penn state University, University park, pa, to continue his research, working mainly with pulsed laser deposition (pld), reactive multitarget magnetrons, and ion-beam sputtering.…”