Domain dynamics during ferroelectric switching

Christopher T. Nelson, Peng Gao, Jacob R. Jokisaari, Colin Heikes, Carolina Adamo, Alexander Melville, Seung Hyub Baek, Chad M. Folkman, Benjamin Winchester, Yijia Gu, Yuanming Liu, Kui Zhang, Enge Wang, Jiangyu Li, Long Qing Chen, Chang Beom Eom, Darrell G. Schlom, Xiaoqing Pan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

327 Scopus citations

Abstract

The utility of ferroelectric materials stems from the ability to nucleate and move polarized domains using an electric field. To understand the mechanisms of polarization switching, structural characterization at the nanoscale is required. We used aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy to follow the kinetics and dynamics of ferroelectric switching at millisecond temporal and subangstrom spatial resolution in an epitaxial bilayer of an antiferromagnetic ferroelectric (BiFeO3) on a ferromagnetic electrode (La0.7Sr0.3MnO3). We observed localized nucleation events at the electrode interface, domain wall pinning on point defects, and the formation of ferroelectric domains localized to the ferroelectric and ferromagnetic interface. These results show how defects and interfaces impede full ferroelectric switching of a thin film.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)968-971
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume334
Issue number6058
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 18 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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