%0 Journal Article
%K Nucleation
%K Hysteresis
%K Materials properties
%K Polarization
%K Ferroelectric materials
%K Polarization switching
%K Ferroelectricity
%K Bismuth ferrite
%K Ferroelectric domains
%K Switching
%K Bismuth
%K Ferrite
%K Superconducting materials
%K Quantitative analysis
%K Optical switches
%K Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM)
%K Phase interfaces
%K Phase-field modeling
%K Spatially resolved
%K Interface charge
%K Wall energy
%K Domain nucleation
%K Single defect
%K Semiconducting bismuth compounds
%K Hysteresis loops
%K Bicrystal grain boundary
%K Complex mechanisms
%K Depolarization fields
%K Ferroelastic
%K Mesoscopic
%K Microstructure engineering
%K Tilt grain boundary
%K Grain boundaries
%K Grain size and shape
%A B.J Rodriguez
%A S Choudhury
%A Y.H Chu
%A A Bhattacharyya
%A S Jesse
%A K Seal
%A A.P Baddorf
%A Ramamoorthy Ramesh
%A L.-Q Chen
%A S.V Kalinin
%B Advanced Functional Materials
%D 2009
%G eng
%P 2053-2063
%R 10.1002/adfm.200900100
%T Unraveling deterministic mesoscopic polarization switching mechanisms: spatially resolved studies of a tilt grain boundary in bismuth ferrite
%V 19
%X 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.