Universality of Polarization Switching Dynamics in Ferroelectric Capacitors Revealed by 5D Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

Abstract

Ferroelectric polarization switching is sensitively affected by phenomena on multiple length scales, giving rise to complex voltage‐ and time‐controlled behaviors. Here, spatially resolved switching dynamics in ferroelectric nanocapacitors are explored as a function of voltage pulse time and magnitude. A remarkable persistence of formal macroscopic scaling laws for polarization switching based on classical models down to nanoscale volumes is observed. These observations illustrate the persistence of the return point memory in the material and allow the thermodynamic parameters of defects controlling switching to be estimated.

Applications of piezoresponse force microscopy in materials research: from inorganic ferroelectrics to biopiezoelectrics and beyond

“…343 Increasingly, PFM is being used as one of many tools in a toolbox to probe structure and function across multiple length scales, and the necessity of integrating, analysing, and correlating data from multiple complementary techniques is apparent, often requiring 'deep data analysis', 344,345 ideally via the coordination of theoretical modelling and experimental approaches. In parallel to these improvements, the scope of PFM and related techniques has now extended to materials well beyond ferroelectrics and even piezoelectrics, effectively becoming an accessible nanoscale probe of electronic and ionic phenomena alike.…”

Disrupting long-range polar order with an electric field

“…BaTiO 3 , PbTiO 3 , Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 and BiFeO 3 , exhibit nucleation and growth of new domains with opposite polar vectors upon field reversal [13][14][15][16][17][18]. When they are in polycrystalline form, the ∞m macroscopic symmetry is presumably preserved during polarization reversal.…”

“…For a polycrystalline BNT-2La, the two processes may take place simultaneously, but have distinct rate dependencies. It is believed that the domain switching is relatively fast [15][16][17][18] while the phase transition is relatively slow and thus dependent on the loading rate [40,41]. …”

Nanoscale mapping of electromechanical response in ionic conductive ceramics with piezoelectric inclusions

“…Thus, significant interest has recently been raised in using strain-based atomic force microscopy (s-AFM) to probe the EM response at the nanoscale. 2,10-12 Among the s-AFM techniques, piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) [13][14][15] and electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) 16,17 have recently been suggested as reliable s-AFM modes for the local probing of surface volume change. While the PFM has been used for exploring piezoelectric properties and polarization states, 18 the ESM has been used for observing electrochemical strain originated from ionic motion below AFM cantilever.…”