%0 Journal Article
%K Thin films
%K Electric fields
%K Polarization
%K Domain walls
%K Switching
%K Ferroelectric films
%K Ferroelectric thin films
%K Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM)
%K Bottom electrodes
%K Depolarizing fields
%K In-plane polarization
%K Initial orientation
%K Out-of-plane
%K Polydomain
%K Transient polarization
%K Depolarization
%A A Roelofs
%A N.A Pertsev
%A R Waser
%A F Schlaphof
%A L.M Eng
%A C Ganpule
%A V Nagarajan
%A Ramamoorthy Ramesh
%B Applied Physics Letters
%D 2002
%G eng
%P 1424-1426
%R 10.1063/1.1448653
%T Depolarizing-field-mediated 180° switching in ferroelectric thin films with 90° domains
%V 80
%X Switching of the out-of-plane and in-plane polarizations in polydomain epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films is studied using three-dimensional piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). It is found that, under an electric field induced between the PFM tip and the bottom electrode, the 180° switching occurs in both c and a domains. After the removal of this field, the spontaneous reversal of the out-of-plane and in-plane polarizations back to the initial orientations takes place, evolving via heterogeneous development of antiparallel 180° domains. The switching of in-plane polarization inside a domains and the preferential formation of reversed 180° domains at 90° domain walls are explained by the effects of the depolarizing fields caused by transient polarization charges appearing on these domain walls. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.