Enhancement of Local Piezoresponse in Polymer Ferroelectrics via Nanoscale Control of Microstructure

Authors

• Yoon-Young Choi, Argonne National Laboratory
• Pankaj Sharma, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
• Charudatta Phatak, Argonne National Laboratory
• David J. Gosztola, Argonne National Laboratory
• Yunya Liu, Xiangtan University
• Joonseok Lee, Argonne National Laboratory
• Byeongdu Lee, Argonne National Laboratory
• Jiangyu Li, University of WashingtonFollow
• Alexei Gruverman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Stephen Ducharme, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Seungbum Hong, Argonne National LaboratoryFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2-3-2015

Citation

CHOI ET AL. VOL. 9, NO. 2, pgs: 1809–1819, 2015.

Comments

Copyright 2015 American Chemical Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

Polymer ferroelectrics are flexible and lightweight electromechanical materials that are widely studied due to their potential application as sensors, actuators, and energy harvesters. However, one of the biggest challenges is their low piezoelectric coefficient. Here, we report a mechanical annealing effect based on local pressure induced by a nanoscale tip that enhances the local piezoresponse. This process can control the nanoscale material properties over a microscale area at room temperature. We attribute this improvement to the formation and growth of β-phase extended chain crystals via sliding diffusion and crystal alignment along the scan axis under high mechanical stress. We believe that this technique can be useful for local enhancement of piezoresponse in ferroelectric polymer thin films.