Ferroelectric domain reversal in congruent LiTaO₃ crystals at elevated temperatures

We report a four-times decrease in the electric fields for 180° domain reversal in congruent LiTaO₃ crystals with an increase in temperature from 22 to 250°C. This is accompanied by a substantial broadening of the field range over which domain reversal takes place, by an order of magnitude. The large internal fields of ∼5.5 kV/mm at room temperature, as measured by the asymmetry in polarization hysteresis loop, disappears at higher temperatures. With increasing temperature, the domain switching changes from lateral growth dominated to nucleation dominated kinetics.