Review of Ferroelectric Domain Imaging by Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

Authors

Andrei Kholkin, University of Aveiro (Portugal)Follow
Sergei Kalinin, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryFollow
Andreas Roelofs, Seagate Technology (Pittsburgh, PA)Follow
Alexei Gruverman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

January 2007

Comments

Published in Scanning Probe Microscopy: Electrical and Electromechanical Phenomena at the Nanoscale, Sergei Kalinin and Alexei Gruverman, editors, 2 volumes (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2007). Used by permission.

Abstract

This chapter describes the principles, theoretical background, recent developments, and applications of a local probe-based technique for nondestructive highresolution ferroelectric domain imaging and manipulation-piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). This technique has proven to be a powerful tool for the characterization of ferroelectric thin films, ceramics, and single crystals. Recent advances in application of PFM for studying a mechanism of polarization reversal at the nanoscale, domain dynamics, degradation effects, and size-dependent phenomena in ferroelectrics are reviewed in detail. Examples of using PFM for the characterization of various polar materials such as ferroelectric films, piezoelectric semiconductors, and ferroelectric relaxors are given.