Nanoscale investigation of polarization retention loss in ferroelectric thin films via scanning force microscopy

Scanning force microscopy (SFM) was applied to direct nanoscale investigation of the mechanism of retention loss in ferroelectric thin films. Experiments were conducted by performing local polarization reversal within an individual grain with subsequent imaging of a resulting domain structure at various time intervals. A conductive SFM tip was used for domain switching and imaging in the SFM piezoresponse mode.