Polarization switching at the nanoscale in ferroelectric copolymer thin films

Authors

• R. V. Gaynutdinov, Institute of Crystallography, Russian Academy of Sciences, MoscowFollow
• S. Mitko, NT-MDT Co., Moscow
• S. G. Yudin, Institute of Crystallography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
• V. M. Fridkin, Institute of Crystallography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
• Stephen Ducharme, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

10-2011

Comments

Published in APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS 99, 142904 (2011); doi:10.1063/1.3646906 Copyright 2011 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.

Abstract

The polarization switching kinetics were measured at the nanoscale in continuous thin films of a ferroelectric copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and trifluoroethylene. The dependence of the switching rate on voltage for a 54-nm thick film exhibits extrinsic nucleation and domain-growth type kinetics with no true threshold coercive field, and is qualitatively different from the behavior of an 18-nm thick film, which exhibits intrinsic switching kinetics, and a true threshold field. The results are consistent with studies of thin film capacitors of much larger area and with a recent refinement of the theory of the critical size for intrinsic switching.