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Unraveling Deterministic Mesoscopic Polarization Switching Mechanisms: Spatially Resolved Studies of a Tilt Grain Boundary in Bismuth Ferrite

  1. Brian J. Rodriguez1,*,
  2. Samrat Choudhury3,
  3. Y. H. Chu4,
  4. Abhishek Bhattacharyya5,
  5. Stephen Jesse2,
  6. Katyayani Seal2,
  7. Arthur P. Baddorf2,
  8. R. Ramesh6,
  9. Long-Qing Chen3,
  10. Sergei V. Kalinin2,*

Article first published online: 12 MAY 2009

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.200900100

Issue

Advanced Functional Materials

Advanced Functional Materials

Volume 19, Issue 13, pages 2053–2063, July 10, 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Rodriguez, B. J., Choudhury, S., Chu, Y. H., Bhattacharyya, A., Jesse, S., Seal, K., Baddorf, A. P., Ramesh, R., Chen, L.-Q. and Kalinin, S. V. (2009), Unraveling Deterministic Mesoscopic Polarization Switching Mechanisms: Spatially Resolved Studies of a Tilt Grain Boundary in Bismuth Ferrite. Adv. Funct. Mater., 19: 2053–2063. doi: 10.1002/adfm.200900100

Author Information

  1. 1

    Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin Belfield, Dublin 4 (Republic of Ireland)

  2. 2

    Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (USA)

  3. 3

    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA 16802 (USA)

  4. 4

    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chiao Tung University Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013 (ROC)

  5. 5

    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lehigh University 5 East Packer AvenueBethlehem, PA 18015 (USA)

  6. 6

    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 (USA)

*Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin Belfield, Dublin 4 (Republic of Ireland).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 6 JUL 2009
  2. Article first published online: 12 MAY 2009
  3. Manuscript Received: 20 JAN 2009

Funded by

  • Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

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Keywords:

  • ferroelectrics;
  • phase field modeling;
  • polarization switching

Abstract

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.

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