Contrast Mechanism for Visualization of Ferroelectric Domains with Scanning Force Microscopy

Imaging and Control of Domain Structures in Ferroelectric Thin Films via Scanning Force Microscopy1

Scanning force microscopy (SFM) is becoming a powerful technique with great potential both for imaging and for control of domain structures in ferroelectric materials at the nanometer scale. Application of SFM to visualization of domain structures in ferroelectric thin films is described. Imaging methods of ferroelectric domains are based on the detection of surface charges in the noncontact mo...

Characterization and Control of Domain Structure in SrBi2Ta2O9 Thin Films by Scanning Force Microscopy

We used the piezoresponse mode of scanning force microscopy (SFM) to perform the first nanoscale observation of ferroelectric domain structure in as-grown SrBi2Ta2O9 films. By lowering the loading force down to approximately 1 nN and by keeping the imaging voltage just below the coercive voltage, we managed to obtain a sufficiently high contrast between opposite 180◦ domains without affecting t...

Switching of both local ferroelectric and magnetic domains in multiferroic Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 thin film by mechanical force

Cross-coupling of ordering parameters in multiferroic materials by multiple external stimuli other than electric field and magnetic field is highly desirable from both practical application and fundamental study points of view. Recently, mechanical force has attracted great attention in switching of ferroic ordering parameters via electro-elastic coupling in ferroelectric materials. In this wor...

Nanoscale visualization and control of ferroelectric domains by atomic force microscopy.

Contrast mechanism maps for piezoresponse force microscopy

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is one of the most established techniques for the observation and local modification of ferroelectric domain structures on the submicron level. Both electrostatic and electromechanical interactions contribute at the tip-surface junction in a complex manner, which has resulted in multiple controversies in the interpretation of PFM. Here we analyze the influen...