%0 Journal Article
%A C.S Ganpule
%A V Nagarajan
%A S.B Ogale
%A A.L Roytburd
%A E.D Williams
%A Ramamoorthy Ramesh
%B Applied Physics Letters
%D 2000
%G eng
%I American Institute of Physics Inc.
%P 3275-3277
%R 10.1063/1.1322051
%T Domain nucleation and relaxation kinetics in ferroelectric thin films
%V 77
%X The time-dependent relaxation of the remanent polarization in epitaxial lead zirconate titanate (PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3) ferroelectric thin films, containing a uniform two-dimensional grid of 90° domains (c axis in the plane of the film), is examined using piezoresponse microscopy. The 90° domain walls preferentially nucleate the 180° reverse domains during relaxation, with a significant directional anisotropy. Relaxation occurs through the nucleation and growth of reverse domains, which subsequently coalesce and consume the entire region as a function of time. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.