Showing papers by "Brian J. Rodriguez published in 2005"

Direct studies of domain switching dynamics in thin film ferroelectric capacitors

Abstract: An experimental approach for direct studies of the polarization reversal mechanism in thin film ferroelectric capacitors based on piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) in conjunction with pulse switching capabilities is presented. Instant domain configurations developing in a 3×3μm2 capacitor at different stages of the polarization reversal process have been registered using step-by-step switching and subsequent PFM imaging. The developed approach allows direct comparison of experimentally measured microscopic switching behavior with parameters used by phenomenological switching models. It has been found that in the low field regime (just above the threshold value) used in the present study, the mechanism of polarization reversal changes during the switching cycle from the initial nucleation-dominated process to the lateral domain expansion at the later stages. The classical nucleation model of Kolmogorov–Avrami–Ishibashi (KAI) provides reasonable approximation for the nucleation-dominated stage of switchi...

Domain growth kinetics in lithium niobate single crystals studied by piezoresponse force microscopy

Abstract: The kinetics of sidewise domain growth in an inhomogeneous electric field has been investigated in stoichiometric LiNbO3 single crystals by measuring the lateral domain size as a function of the voltage pulse magnitude and duration using piezoresponse force microscopy. The domain size increases linearly with the voltage magnitude suggesting that the domain size is kinetically limited in a wide range of pulse magnitudes and durations. In spite of that, the written domains exhibit strong retention behavior. It is suggested that the switching behavior can be described by the universal scaling curve. Domain kinetics can be described as an activation process by calculating the field distribution using the charged sphere model under the assumption of an exponential field dependence of the wall velocity. The activation energy is found to be a function of the external field.

Electromechanical imaging of biological systems with sub-10nm resolution

Abstract: Electromechanical imaging of tooth dentin and enamel has been performed with sub-10nm resolution using piezoresponse force microscopy. Characteristic piezoelectric domain size and local protein fiber ordering in dentin have been determined. The shape of a single protein fibril in enamel is visualized in real space and local hysteresis loops are measured. Because of the ubiquitous presence of piezoelectricity in biological systems, this approach is expected to find broad application in high-resolution studies of a wide range of biomaterials.

Electromechanical Imaging of Biological Systems with Sub-10 nm Resolution

Abstract: Electromechanical imaging of tooth dentin and enamel has been performed with sub-10 nm resolution using piezoresponse force microscopy. Characteristic piezoelectric domain size and local protein fiber ordering in dentin have been determined. The shape of a single collagen fibril in enamel is visualized in real space and local hysteresis loops are measured. Because of the ubiquitous presence of piezoelectricity in biological systems, this approach is expected to find broad application in high-resolution studies of a wide range of biomaterials.

Nanoelectromechanics of polarization switching in piezoresponse force microscopy

Abstract: Nanoscale polarization switching in ferroelectric materials by piezoresponse force microscopy in weak and strong indentation limits is analyzed using exact solutions for coupled electroelastic fields under the tip. Tip-induced domain switching is mapped on the Landau theory of phase transitions, with domain size as an order parameter. For a point charge interacting with a ferroelectric surface, switching by both first and the second order processes is possible, depending on the charge–surface separation. For a realistic tip, the domain nucleation process is first order in charge magnitude and polarization switching occurs only above a certain critical tip bias. In pure ferroelectric or ferroelastic switching, the late stages of the switching process can be described using a point charge model and arbitrarily large domains can be created. However, description of domain nucleation and the early stages of growth process when the domain size is comparable with the tip curvature radius (weak indentation) or th...

Atomic force microscopy-based experimental setup for studying domain switching dynamics in ferroelectric capacitors

Abstract: This article describes an experimental setup for combined measurements of domain switching dynamics and switching currents in micrometer scale ferroelectric capacitors. The setup is based on a commercial atomic force microscope (AFM) that is equipped with a piezoresponse mode for domain imaging and with a wide bandwidth current amplifier for switching current recording. The setup allows combined domain/current measurements in capacitors as small as 1μm2 with switching times resolved down to 10ns. The incorporation of switching current measurement capability into piezoresponse AFM makes detailed analysis of switching behavior in ferroelectric memory devices possible.

Simultaneous elastic and electromechanical imaging by scanning probe microscopy: Theory and applications to ferroelectric and biological materials

Abstract: An approach for combined imaging of elastic and electromechanical properties of materials, referred to as piezoacoustic scanning probe microscopy (PA-SPM), is presented. Applicability of this technique for elastic and electromechanical imaging with nanoscale resolution in such dissimilar materials as ferroelectrics and biological tissues is demonstrated. The PA-SPM signal formation is analyzed based on the theory of nanoelectromechanics of piezoelectric indentation and signal sensitivity to materials properties and imaging conditions. It is shown that simultaneous measurements of local indentation stiffness and indentation piezocoefficient provide the most complete description of the local electroelastic properties for transversally isotropic materials, thus making piezoacoustic SPM a comprehensive imaging and analysis tool. The contrast formation mechanism in the low frequency regime is described in terms of tip-surface contact mechanics. Signal generation volumes for electromechanical and elastic signal...

Scanning probe investigation of surface charge and surface potential of GaN-based heterostructures

Abstract: Scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) and electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) have been employed to measure the surface potentials and the surface charge densities of the Ga- and the N-face of a GaN lateral polarity heterostructure (LPH). The surface was subjected to an HCl surface treatment to address the role of adsorbed charge on polarization screening. It has been found that while the Ga-face surface appears to be unaffected by the surface treatment, the N-face surface exhibited an increase in adsorbed screening charge density (1.6±0.5×1010cm−2), and a reduction of 0.3±0.1V in the surface potential difference between the N- and Ga-face surfaces.

Investigation of the mechanism of polarization switching in ferroelectric capacitors by three- dimensional piezoresponse force microscopy

Abstract: A mechanism for the switching behavior of (111)-oriented Pb(Zr,Ti)O3-based 1×1.5 μm2 capacitors has been investigated using three-dimensional piezoresponse force microscopy (3D-PFM). A combination of vertical and lateral piezoresponse force microscopy (VPFM and LPFM) has been used to map the out-of-plane and the in-plane components of the polarization. The three-dimensional polarization distribution was reconstructed by quantitative analysis of the PFM amplitude images of poled PZT capacitors while taking into account contrast variations in the PFM phase images. The switching behavior of the capacitors was determined by comparison of the static domain patterns in the same capacitors after both positive and negative poling. While 180° degree switching was observed, surprisingly, the switching process was dominated by 90° polarization vector rotation. Furthermore, central regions of the capacitors were characterized by the presence of charged domain boundaries, which could lead to imprint (preference of one polarization state over another).

Photo electron emission microscopy of polarity-patterned materials

Abstract: This study presents variable photon energy photo electron emission microscopy (PEEM) of polarity-patterned epitaxial GaN films, and ferroelectric LiNbO3 (LNO) single crystals and PbZrTiO3 (PZT) thin films. The photo electrons were excited with spontaneous emission from the tunable UV free electron laser (FEL) at Duke University. We report PEEM observation of polarity contrast and measurement of the photothreshold of each polar region of the materials. Fo ra cleaned GaN film with laterally patterned Ga- and N-face polarities, we found a higher photoelectric yield from the N-face regions compared with the Ga-face regions. Through the photon energy dependent contrast in the PEEM images of the surfaces, we can deduce that the threshold of the N-face region is less than ∼4. 9e V while that of the Ga-face regions is greater than 6.3 eV. In both LNO and PZT, bright emission was detected from the negatively poled domains, indicating that the emission threshold of the negative domain is lower than that of the positive domain. For LNO, the measured photothreshold was ∼4. 6e V at thenegative domain and ∼6. 2e V at thepositive domain, while for PZT, the threshold of the negative domain was less than 4.3 eV. Moreover, PEEM observation of the PZT surface at elevated temperatures displayed that the domain contrast disappeared near the Curie temperature of ∼300 ◦ C. The PEEM polarity contrast of the polar materials is discussed in terms of internal screening from free carriers and defect sa nd the external screening due to adsorbed ions.

Preparation and characterization of atomically clean, stoichiometric surfaces of AIN(0001)

Abstract: In situ exposure of the (0001) surface of AlN thin films to flowing ammonia at 1120 °C and 10−4Torr removes oxygen∕hydroxide and hydrocarbon species below the detectable limits of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and decreases the Al∕N ratio from 1.3 to 1.0. The positions of the Al2p and the N1s core level peaks acquired from the cleaned surfaces were 75.0±0.1eV and 398.2±0.1eV, respectively, which were similar to the values determined for the as-loaded samples. The cleaning process left unchanged the (1×1) low energy electron diffraction pattern, the step-and-terrace microstructure, and the root mean square roughness values observed for the surfaces of the as-loaded samples; i.e., the surface structure and microstructure were not changed by the high-temperature exposure to ammonia at low pressures. Vacuum annealing under 10−7Torr at 1175 °C for 15 min removed all detectable hydrocarbons; however, it did not remove the oxygen∕hydroxide species.

Imaging Bio-electro-mechanics with Scanning Probe Microscopy: Unveiling Nature's Nanoscale Form and Function

Abstract: Since the discovery in the late eighteenth century of electrically induced mechanical response in muscle tissue, coupling between electrical and mechanical phenomena has been shown to be a ubiquitous feature of biological systems. Here, we measure the local electromechanical properties of biological samples using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). This technique is combined with atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM) for simultaneous mapping the topography, structure, and electro-mechanical behavior of biological systems down to nanometer scales. We demonstrate the capability of these scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques to visualize as of yet unseen spatial variations in the composition and structure of calcified tissues, such as antlers, with 5 nm spatial resolution as well as local mechanical properties variation in a butterfly wing.

Recent Developments in Electromechanical Probing on the Nanoscale: Vector and Spectroscopic Imaging, Resolution, and Molecular Orientation Mapping

Abstract: Strong coupling between electrical and mechanical phenomena and the presence of switchable polarization have enabled applications of ferroelectric materials for nonvolatile memories (FeRAM), data storage, and ferroelectric lithography. Understanding the local functionality of inorganic ferroelectrics including crystallographic orientation, piezoresponse, elasticity, and mechanisms for polarization switching, requires probing material structure and properties on the level of a single ferroelectric grain or domain. Here, I present recent studies on electromechanical, mechanical, and spectroscopic characterization of ferroelectric materials by Scanning Probe Microscopy. Three-dimensional electromechanical imaging, referred to as Vector Piezoresponse Force Microscopy, is presented. Nanoelectromechanics of PFM, including the structure of coupled electroelastic fields and tip-surface contact mechanics, is analyzed. This establishes a complete continuum mechanics description of the PFM and Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy imaging mechanisms. Mechanism for local polarization switching is analyzed. The hysteresis loop shape is shown to be determined by the formation of the transient domain below the tip, the size of which increases with the tip bias. Spectroscopic imaging that allows relevant characteristics of switching process, such as imprint bias, pinning strength, remanent and saturation response, is introduced. Finally, resolution in PFM and vector PFM imaging of local crystallographic and molecular orientation and disorder is introduced.