Imaging and engineering the nanoscale-domain structure of a Sr_0.61Ba_0.39Nb₂O₆ crystal using a scanning force microscope

Authors

K. Terabe, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
S. Takekawa, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
M. Nakamura, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
K. Kitamura, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
Alexei Gruverman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

September 2002

Comments

Published in Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 81, No. 11, 9 September 2002. Copyright © 2002 American Institute of Physics. Used by permission.

Abstract

We have investigated the ferroelectric domain structure formed in a Sr_0.61Ba_0.39Nb₂O₆ single crystal by cooling the crystal through the Curie point. Imaging the etched surface structure using a scanning force microscope (SFM) in both the topographic mode and the piezoresponse mode revealed that a multidomain structure of nanoscale island-like domains was formed. The island-like domains could be inverted by applying an appropriate voltage using a conductive SFM tip. Furthermore, a nanoscale periodically inverted-domain structure was artificially fabricated using the crystal which underwent poling treatment.