TY - JOUR
KW - Nucleation
KW - Hysteresis
KW - Materials properties
KW - Polarization
KW - Ferroelectric materials
KW - Polarization switching
KW - Ferroelectricity
KW - Bismuth ferrite
KW - Ferroelectric domains
KW - Switching
KW - Bismuth
KW - Ferrite
KW - Superconducting materials
KW - Quantitative analysis
KW - Optical switches
KW - Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM)
KW - Phase interfaces
KW - Phase-field modeling
KW - Spatially resolved
KW - Interface charge
KW - Wall energy
KW - Domain nucleation
KW - Single defect
KW - Semiconducting bismuth compounds
KW - Hysteresis loops
KW - Bicrystal grain boundary
KW - Complex mechanisms
KW - Depolarization fields
KW - Ferroelastic
KW - Mesoscopic
KW - Microstructure engineering
KW - Tilt grain boundary
KW - Grain boundaries
KW - Grain size and shape
AU - B.J Rodriguez
AU - S Choudhury
AU - Y.H Chu
AU - A Bhattacharyya
AU - S Jesse
AU - K Seal
AU - A.P Baddorf
AU - Ramamoorthy Ramesh
AU - L.-Q Chen
AU - S.V Kalinin
AB - The deterministic mesoscopic mechanism of ferroelectric domain nucleation is probed at a single atomically-defined model defect: an artificially fabricated bicrystal grain boundary (GB) in an epitaxial bismuth ferrite film. Switching spectroscopy piezoresponse force microscopy (SS-PFM) is used to map the variation of local hysteresis loops at the GB and in its immediate vicinity. It is found that the the influence of the GB on nucleation results in a slight shift of the negative nucleation bias to larger voltages. The mesoscopic mechanisms of domain nucleation in the bulk and at the GB are studied in detail using phase-field modeling, elucidating the complex mechanisms governed by the interplay between ferroelectric and ferroelastic wall energies, depolarization fields, and interface charge. The combination of phase-field modeling and SS-PFM allows quantitative analysis of the mesoscopic mechanisms for polarization switching, and hence suggests a route for unraveling the mechanisms of polarization switching at a single defect level and ultimately optimizing materials properties through microstructure engineering. ©2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
BT - Advanced Functional Materials
DO - 10.1002/adfm.200900100
LA - eng
M1 - 13
N1 - cited By 45
N2 - The deterministic mesoscopic mechanism of ferroelectric domain nucleation is probed at a single atomically-defined model defect: an artificially fabricated bicrystal grain boundary (GB) in an epitaxial bismuth ferrite film. Switching spectroscopy piezoresponse force microscopy (SS-PFM) is used to map the variation of local hysteresis loops at the GB and in its immediate vicinity. It is found that the the influence of the GB on nucleation results in a slight shift of the negative nucleation bias to larger voltages. The mesoscopic mechanisms of domain nucleation in the bulk and at the GB are studied in detail using phase-field modeling, elucidating the complex mechanisms governed by the interplay between ferroelectric and ferroelastic wall energies, depolarization fields, and interface charge. The combination of phase-field modeling and SS-PFM allows quantitative analysis of the mesoscopic mechanisms for polarization switching, and hence suggests a route for unraveling the mechanisms of polarization switching at a single defect level and ultimately optimizing materials properties through microstructure engineering. ©2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
PY - 2009
SP - 2053
EP - 2063
T2 - Advanced Functional Materials
TI - Unraveling deterministic mesoscopic polarization switching mechanisms: spatially resolved studies of a tilt grain boundary in bismuth ferrite
VL - 19
SN - 1616301X
ER -