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Journal ArticleDOI

Nanoscale studies of ferroelectric domain walls as pinned elastic interfaces

01 Oct 2013-Comptes Rendus Physique (Elsevier Masson)-Vol. 14, Iss: 8, pp 667-684
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on piezoresponse force microscopy measurements of individual ferroelectric domain walls, allowing their static configuration and dynamic response to be accessed with nanoscale resolution over multiple orders of length scale and velocity.
About: This article is published in Comptes Rendus Physique.The article was published on 2013-10-01. It has received 56 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Piezoresponse force microscopy.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) has been used to probe electromechanical functionality in a wide range of piezoelectric materials including organic and biological systems.
Abstract: Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) probes the mechanical deformation of a sample in response to an electric field applied with the tip of an atomic force microscope. Originally developed more than two decades ago to study ferroelectric materials, this technique has since been used to probe electromechanical functionality in a wide range of piezoelectric materials including organic and biological systems. Piezoresponse force microscopy has also been demonstrated as a useful tool to detect mechanical strain originating from electrical phenomena in non-piezoelectric materials. Parallelling advances in analytical and numerical modelling, many technical improvements have been made in the last decade: switching spectroscopy PFM allows the polarisation switching properties of ferroelectrics to be resolved in real space with nanometric resolution, while dual ac resonance tracking and band excitation PFM have been used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. In turn, these advances have led to increasingly large m...

86 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Ferrero et al. as mentioned in this paper presented the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CICTE), which is the National Council of Energia Atomica.

47 citations


Cites methods from "Nanoscale studies of ferroelectric ..."

  • ...This formula has largely been verified by experiments on magnetic [1,4–6] and ferroelectric [9,13] domain walls....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Ferroelectric domain walls have emerged as a new type of interface in which the dynamic characteristics of ferroelectricity introduce the element of spatial mobility, allowing real-time adjustment of position, density and orientation of the walls.
Abstract: Ferroelectric domain walls have emerged as a new type of interface in which the dynamic characteristics of ferroelectricity introduce the element of spatial mobility, allowing real-time adjustment of position, density and orientation of the walls. Because of electronic confinement, and of their distinct symmetry and chemical environment, the spatially mobile domain walls offer a wide range of functional electric and magnetic properties, representing excellent 2D components for the development of more agile next-generation nanotechnology. In this Review, we discuss how the field of domain-wall nanoelectronics evolved from classical device ideas to advanced concepts for multilevel resistance control in memristive and synaptic devices. Recent advances in modelling and atomic-scale characterization provide insight into the interaction of ferroelectric domain walls and point defects, offering additional routes for local property design. We also explore the discovery of functional domain walls in improper ferroelectrics and the intriguing possibility of developing the walls themselves into ultra-small electronic components, controlling electronic signals through their intrinsic physical properties. We conclude with a discussion of open experimental challenges and newly discovered domain-wall phenomena that may play an important role in future directions of the field. Ferroelectric domain walls hold great potential as multifunctional 2D systems for next-generation nanotechnology. This Review discusses recent advances in the field and new strategies for developing the domain walls into ultra-small electronic components.

42 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied Ferroelectric domain switching in c-axis-oriented epitaxial Pb(ZrTi)O3 thin films using biased scanning probe microscopy tips.
Abstract: Ferroelectric domain switching in c-axis-oriented epitaxial Pb(ZrTi)O3 thin films was studied using biased scanning probe microscopy tips. While linear and logarithmic dependence of domain size on tip bias and writing time, respectively, are well known, we report an additional linear dependence on relative humidity in the 28?65% range. We map out the switched domain size as a function of both the tip bias and the applied pulse time and describe a growth-limited regime for very short pulses and a nucleation-limited regime for very low tip bias. Using ?interrupted-switching? measurements, we probe the nucleation regime with subcritical pulses and identify a surprisingly long relaxation time on the order of 100 ms, which we relate to ionic redistribution both on the surface and within the thin film itself.

30 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using the model system of ferroelectric domain walls, the effects of long-range dipolar interactions and periodic ordering on the behavior of pinned elastic interfaces are explored and it is suggested that a random field-dominated pinning, combined with stronger disorder and strain effects due to the step-bunching morphology of the samples, could be the dominant source of pinning in the system.
Abstract: Using the model system of ferroelectric domain walls, we explore the effects of long-range dipolar interactions and periodic ordering on the behavior of pinned elastic interfaces. In piezoresponse force microscopy studies of the characteristic roughening of intrinsic 71\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} stripe domains in ${\mathrm{BiFeO}}_{3}$ thin films, we find unexpectedly high values of the roughness exponent $\ensuremath{\zeta}=0.74\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.10$, significantly different from those obtained for artificially written domain walls in this and other ferroelectric materials. The large value of the exponent suggests that a random field-dominated pinning, combined with stronger disorder and strain effects due to the step-bunching morphology of the samples, could be the dominant source of pinning in the system.

26 citations

References
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Book
06 Oct 1977
TL;DR: In this paper, the theory of ferroelectricity in terms of soft modes and lattice dynamics is developed and modern techniques of measurement, including X-ray, optic, and neutron scattering, infra-red absorption, and magnetic resonance.
Abstract: The book develops the modern theory of ferroelectricity in terms of soft modes and lattice dynamics and also describes modern techniques of measurement, including X-ray, optic, and neutron scattering, infra-red absorption, and magnetic resonance. It includes a discussion of the related phenomena of antiferroelectricity, pyroelectricity, and ferroelasticity and seconds on domains, thin films, ceramics, and polymers, leading on to a comprehensive survey of potential and actual device capabilities for pyroelectric detection, memories, display, and modulation. It should provide an authoritative account for those engaged in research or graduate ferroelectric or pyroelectric devices.

4,931 citations


"Nanoscale studies of ferroelectric ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Depending on the strain and electrostatic boundary conditions, as well as its switching history, a sample may present a uniformly polarised configuration, or coexisting regions with different polarisation orientation, known as domains, separated by domain walls [1, 2, 3]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Ginzburg number as discussed by the authors was introduced to account for thermal and quantum fluctuations and quenched disorder in high-temperature superconductors, leading to interesting effects such as melting of the vortex lattice, the creation of new vortex-liquid phases, and the appearance of macroscopic quantum phenomena.
Abstract: With the high-temperature superconductors a qualitatively new regime in the phenomenology of type-II superconductivity can be accessed. The key elements governing the statistical mechanics and the dynamics of the vortex system are (dynamic) thermal and quantum fluctuations and (static) quenched disorder. The importance of these three sources of disorder can be quantified by the Ginzburg number $Gi=\frac{{(\frac{{T}_{c}}{{H}_{c}^{2}}\ensuremath{\varepsilon}{\ensuremath{\xi}}^{3})}^{2}}{2}$, the quantum resistance $Qu=(\frac{{e}^{2}}{\ensuremath{\hbar}})(\frac{{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}}{\ensuremath{\varepsilon}\ensuremath{\xi}})$, and the critical current-density ratio $\frac{{j}_{c}}{{j}_{o}}$, with ${j}_{c}$ and ${j}_{o}$ denoting the depinning and depairing current densities, respectively (${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}$ is the normal-state resistivity and ${\ensuremath{\varepsilon}}^{2}=\frac{m}{M}l1$ denotes the anisotropy parameter). The material parameters of the oxides conspire to produce a large Ginzburg number $\mathrm{Gi}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ and a large quantum resistance $\mathrm{Qu}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, values which are by orders of magnitude larger than in conventional superconductors, leading to interesting effects such as the melting of the vortex lattice, the creation of new vortex-liquid phases, and the appearance of macroscopic quantum phenomena. Introducing quenched disorder into the system turns the Abrikosov lattice into a vortex glass, whereas the vortex liquid remains a liquid. The terms "glass" and "liquid" are defined in a dynamic sense, with a sublinear response $\ensuremath{\rho}={\frac{\ensuremath{\partial}E}{\ensuremath{\partial}j}|}_{j\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0}$ characterizing the truly superconducting vortex glass and a finite resistivity $\ensuremath{\rho}(j\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0)g0$ being the signature of the liquid phase. The smallness of $\frac{{j}_{c}}{{j}_{o}}$ allows one to discuss the influence of quenched disorder in terms of the weak collective pinning theory. Supplementing the traditional theory of weak collective pinning to take into account thermal and quantum fluctuations, as well as the new scaling concepts for elastic media subject to a random potential, this modern version of the weak collective pinning theory consistently accounts for a large number of novel phenomena, such as the broad resistive transition, thermally assisted flux flow, giant and quantum creep, and the glassiness of the solid state. The strong layering of the oxides introduces additional new features into the thermodynamic phase diagram, such as a layer decoupling transition, and modifies the mechanism of pinning and creep in various ways. The presence of strong (correlated) disorder in the form of twin boundaries or columnar defects not only is technologically relevant but also provides the framework for the physical realization of novel thermodynamic phases such as the Bose glass. On a macroscopic scale the vortex system exhibits self-organized criticality, with both the spatial and the temporal scale accessible to experimental investigations.

4,502 citations

Book
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: The first chapter of this important new text is available on the Cambridge Worldwide Web server: http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk/onlinepubs/Textbooks/textbookstop.html as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This book brings together two of the most exciting and widely studied subjects in modern physics: namely fractals and surfaces. To the community interested in the study of surfaces and interfaces, it brings the concept of fractals. To the community interested in the exciting field of fractals and their application, it demonstrates how these concepts may be used in the study of surfaces. The authors cover, in simple terms, the various methods and theories developed over the past ten years to study surface growth. They describe how one can use fractal concepts successfully to describe and predict the morphology resulting from various growth processes. Consequently, this book will appeal to physicists working in condensed matter physics and statistical mechanics, with an interest in fractals and their application. The first chapter of this important new text is available on the Cambridge Worldwide Web server: http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk/onlinepubs/Textbooks/textbookstop.html

3,891 citations


"Nanoscale studies of ferroelectric ..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...1For a more detailed treatment, we invite the interested reader to consult the excellent text by Barabasi and Stanley [27], and reviews by Blatter et al. [28], Giamarchi et al. [25], and Agoritsas et al. [29]....

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  • ...For a more detailed treatment, we invite the interested reader to consult the excellent text by Barabasi and Stanley [27], and reviews by Blatter et al....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarize both the basic physics and unresolved aspects of BiFeO3 and device applications, which center on spintronics and memory devices that can be addressed both electrically and magnetically.
Abstract: BiFeO3 is perhaps the only material that is both magnetic and a strong ferroelectric at room temperature. As a result, it has had an impact on the field of multiferroics that is comparable to that of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) on superconductors, with hundreds of publications devoted to it in the past few years. In this Review, we try to summarize both the basic physics and unresolved aspects of BiFeO3 (which are still being discovered with several new phase transitions reported in the past few months) and device applications, which center on spintronics and memory devices that can be addressed both electrically and magnetically.

3,526 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1935
TL;DR: This chapter examines the distribution of magnetic moments in a ferromagnetic crystal and finds that if the crystal is placed in an external magnetic field, the boundaries between the layers begin to move so that the layers with magnetic moments parallel to the field become wider.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter examines the distribution of magnetic moments in a ferromagnetic crystal. When the crystal is magnetized, the boundaries between the oppositely magnetized layers move so that the layers with one direction of magnetic moment grow at the cost of the layers with moments in the opposite direction. The presence of separate elementary regions, magnetized in opposite directions, is due only to the demagnetizing effect of the surface, and the number and dimensions of these regions are entirely determined by the dimensions of the body. The analysis of the preceding section gives only the distribution of the directions of the magnetic moments in the intermediate regions but gives nothing for determining the width of the layers. If the crystal is placed in an external magnetic field, which is directed parallel to the axis of easiest magnetization, the boundaries between the layers begin to move so that the layers with magnetic moments parallel to the field become wider.

1,866 citations


"Nanoscale studies of ferroelectric ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...the surface density of the domain wall σDW gives rise to a characteristic Landau-LifshitzKittel [33, 34] scaling of domain periodicity wD = √ σDWhS/UD with the sample thickness hS....

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  • ...Optimising the volume energy density of the domain UD vs. the surface density of the domain wall σDW gives rise to a characteristic Landau-LifshitzKittel [33, 34] scaling of domain periodicity wD = √ σDWhS/UD with the sample thickness hS....

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  • ...The domain walls themselves were considered as essentially straight, with competition between the energy cost of domain wall and the depolarising field leading to the formation of periodic domains showing the characteristic Landau-Lifshitz Kittel scaling with the thickness of the material [33, 34]....

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