Simulation of flexoelectricity effect on imprint behavior of ferroelectric thin films

The impact of flexoelectricity on the imprint behavior in ferroelectric thin films has been investigated within the framework of Landau-Khalatnikov theory, by incorporating the coupling effect between the stress gradient and polarization. It is found that the imprint phenomenon can be in part induced by flexoelectricity. In the presence of flexoelectric coupling, the compressive stress shifts the hysteresis loop to the negative electric field axis, but the tensile stress shifts it to the opposite direction, which is in good agreement with experimental result. Besides, the characteristic length of stress distribution has a significant influence on the upper part of hysteresis loop. It highlights the pressing need to avoid the stress gradient in order to prevent degradation of device performance in ferroelectric thin films.     

Dynamic hysteresis in ferroelectric systems: experiment and Monte Carlo simulation

A Monte Carlo algorithm for dynamic hysteresis simulation in ferroelectric spin systems is developed based on a DIFFOUR model in which the local spontaneous polarization is defined by the double-well potential energy and the nearest-neighbor spin interaction as well as an external electrical field of variable amplitude and frequency. A direct measurement of the hysteresis loop for ferroelectric Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ thin film capacitors using the Sawyer–Tower technique is performed. Significant dependence of the hysteresis shape and pattern on the external field is revealed. Direct imaging of the simulated domain pattern indicates serious suppression of the domain switching over the high-frequency range. The evaluated scaling relations from the simulation for remanence, coercivity, and the area of the hysteresis over the low-frequency range are supported by theoretical predictions and experiments, but the high-frequency scaling behaviors as derived are different from one and another. Received: 23 January 2001 / Accepted: 17 August 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001     

Influence of side electric potential on hysteresis loop parameters and electric permittivity in the Rochelle salt

It has been shown that the application of an electric potential to relatively narrow side electrodes of a thin perpendicular parallelepiped Rochelle salt sample plate leads to the disappearance of the hysteresis loop. The effect is permanent and can be observed after the side potential disconnection. Moreover, a reduction of both zero-field longitudinal permittivity maxima at the critical points is visible then. A non-zero remanent polarization and a non-zero coercive field are then able to be observed only at temperatures higher than that of the lower critical point and lower than that of the upper critical one. No corresponding temperature shift in reduced permittivity maxima has been noticed. A transition to below the lower critical point for the next few hours does not lead to restoration of the original properties formerly lost during the side potential application in the ferroelectric phase. Such restoration is possible by annealing the sample above the upper critical temperature.     

Investigation of domain structure of TGS single crystal after a transverse electric field by piezoresponse force microscopy

An investigation of the influence of electric field transverse to the ferroelectric axis b_HOP and parallel to c_HOP axis of triglycine sulfate (TGS) single crystal on ferroelectric domain structure was performed by piezoresponse force microscopy. To check if the applied electric field changed the dielectric properties and ferroelectric domain structure the hysteresis loop measurements were carried out as well as observations of domain structure by the liquid crystal technique. The investigation revealed existence of blocked domains in the crystal modified by the electric field TGS.     

Observation of domain wall motions in alanine doped triglycine sulphate ferroelectric crystal

In an Alanine doped triglycine sulphate ferroelectric crystal, domain wall motions show roughly the same velocity vs. electric field as in pure TGS (after the specific bias field of the observed region has been annealed by an opposite external field). The different steps of the hysteresis loop can be brought together with domain switchings which have been made visible by the pyroelectric probe technique.     

Domain wall thickness variations of ferroelectric BaMgF4 single crystals in the tip fields of an atomic force microscope

The ferroelectric domain wall thickness of a fluoride BaMgF₄ single crystal was investigated by piezoresponse force microscopy. It was found that the domain wall thickness shows a strong spatial variation in the as‐grown crystal and the polarization reversal process. The original wall thickness is greater (about two to seven times) than that switched by the tip fields of the atomic force microscope. A significantly narrower domain wall was obtained in the higher tip‐field. The trapped defects at the domain wall play an important role in the spatial variation of the polarization width of 180° domain wall in the BaMgF₄ single crystal. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Ferroelectricity and structure of BaTiO3 grown on YBa 2Cu3O_{7 - \delta } thin films

We have investigated the crystal structure and the ferroelectric properties of BaTiO₃ thin films with YBa₂Cu₃O as the bottom and Au as the top electrode. Epitaxial heterostructures of YBa₂Cu₃O and BaTiO₃ were prepared by dc and rf sputtering, respectively. The crystal structure of the films was characterised by X-ray diffraction. The ferroelectric behaviour of the BaTiO₃ films was confirmed by hysteresis loop measurements using a Sawyer Tower circuit. We obtain a coercive field of 30 kV/cm and a remanent polarisation of 1.25 μC/cm². At sub-switching fields the capacitance of the films obeys a relation analogous to the Rayleigh law. This behaviour indicates an interaction of domain walls with randomly distributed pinning centres. At a field of 5 MV/m we calculate a 3% contribution of the irreversible domain wall motion to the total dielectric constant. Received 24 June 1999 and Received in final form 27 August 1999     

37BiScO_3-63PbTiO_3铁电陶瓷的极化翻转行为研究

在正弦电场E=E0sin(2πft)加载下,通过改变电场E0(5—55kV/cm)和频率f(0.1—100Hz),测量了37BiScO3-63PbTiO3铁电陶瓷材料的电滞回线.数据拟合结果表明:在低电场和高电场阶段,剩余极化强度Pr的对数和矫顽场强Ec的对数都与电场强度E0的对数存在线性关系,而介于高电场与低电场之间则无线性关系存在,这种三阶段行为有别于现有的两阶段行为.这可归结于铁电陶瓷在不同的电场作用下铁电极化机理的不同.     

Simulation of thickness dependence in ferroelectric thin films

The thickness dependence of coercive field (E_C) and remanent polarization (P_r) in ferroelectric thin films has been numerically simulated using a two-dimensional four-state Potts model. In this model, each of the dipoles in the film is assigned to one of the four states corresponding to the four different mutually perpendicular orientations. Neighboring dipoles with the same orientation are then grouped together to form a domain. Four different kinds of domains exist. In the presence of the surface layer near the electrode/film interface, the thickness dependence of both coercive field and remanent polarization are simulated.     

Ferroelectric Properties of Polycrystalline Ceramics with Dipolar Defect Simulated from the Potts--Ising Model

Physical properties of polycrystailine ferroelectrics including the contributions of the fixed dipolar defects and the average grain size in the Potts-Ising model are simulated by using the Monte Carlo method. Domain pattern, hysteresis loop and switching current of the polarization reversal process are obtained. Two processes are considered in our simulation. In the first one, the grain texture of ferroelectric ceramics are produced from the Ports model, and then the Ising model is implemented in the obtained polycrystailine texture to produce the domain pattern, hysteresis loop and switching current. It is concluded that the defect has the ability to decrease the remnant polarization P~ as well as the coercive field E~. The back switching is obviously observed after the electric field is off, and it shows some variation after introducing the fixed dipolar defect. Meanwhile, the spike of the switching current is found to lower with the increasing defect concentration and the decreasing average grain size.     

Room temperature ferroelectricity of tetragonally strained SrTiO3 thin films on single crystal Rh substrates

Epitaxial SrTiO₃ thin films were deposited on single crystalline Rh substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The tetragonally stained structure of the SrTiO₃ thin films with a c/a ratio of 1.04 was confirmed by x-ray diffraction experiments. The SrTiO₃ thin films exhibited good ferroelectric properties with a high remanent polarization (2P_r) of 8 μC/cm² and a canonical ferroelectric piezoresponse hysteresis loop at room temperature. We estimated a high activation electric field of about 6.4 MV/cm for domain wall creeping. This activation electric field is higher than that of typical ferroelectric materials such as PbTiO₃.     

Dielectric properties of ferroelectric/DMS heterointerface using YMnO3 and Ce doped Si

Bottom gate type Al/Si:8.2 at%Ce/YMnO₃/Pt capacitor was fabricated. Although it was polycrystalline, we successfully obtained Si:8.2 at%Ce film on ferroelectric YMnO₃. The dielectric properties of the capacitor were carefully investigated. Although the capacitance shows frequency dispersion, the capacitor exhibits a ferroelectric type C-V hysteresis loop. From the PUND and P-V measurements, ferroelectric polarization was distinguished from the another polarization, Based on these dielectric measurements, effect of polarization induced by the ferroelectric YMnO₃ on the carrier modulation in the diluted magnetic semiconductor, Ce doped Si film was discussed.     

Dynamic fatigue during polarization switching of lead zirconate titanate ceramics with variable ferroelectric hardness

The remanent polarization of lead zirconate titanate ceramics with variable ferroelectric hardness is experimentally studied in a strong ac field. The results obtained suggest that the main mechanism of multiplication of crystal defects that controls the fatigue rate of soft ferroelectric ceramics is the process of twinning and untwinning in crystallites during polarization switching. In hard ferroelectric ceramics, the formation of a hysteresis loop is accompanied by the formation of stable configurations of mechanical twins in crystallites due to secondary twinning. Polarization switching in these configurations does not induce twin-wall motion, and the fatigue rate is low.     

Effects of grain size on the electrical properties of PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 ceramics

4v (space group: P4mm) in the ferroelectric phase and O_h(m3m) in the paraelectric phase. From the hysteresis loop measurements, we obtained the remanent polarization and calculated the squareness of our samples as a function of grain sizes. Received: 12 August 1996/Accepted: 22 January 1997     

Multiferroic characteristics of the strained epitaxial Bi0.9Ho0.1FeO3 thin film

We fabricated high quality epitaxial Bi_0.9Ho_0.1FeO₃ thin films which exhibited the tetragonally stained structure with a c/a ratio of about 1.04. The Bi_0.9Ho_0.1FeO₃ thin film showed a good ferroelectric property with the high remanent polarization (P_r) of about 80 μC/cm². The ferromagnetic hysteresis loop with a clear remanent magnetization was shown. The coercive field and the remanent magnetization of the Bi_0.9Ho_0.1FeO₃ film are 6200 Oe and 1.7 emu/g, respectively. The abrupt conduction due to space charge limited (SCL) was revealed in leakage current density versus electric field.     

Ferroelectric properties of Pr and Nb co-substituted Sr0.8Bi2.2Ta2O9 thin films

Thin film of both A- and B-site co-substituted Sr_0.8Bi_2.2Ta₂O₉ (SBT) by Pr³⁺ and Nb⁵⁺, i.e. Sr_0.8Pr_0.1Bi_2.1Ta_1.5Nb_0.5O₉ (SPBTN) was fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by metalorganic decomposition method. The Nb⁵⁺ substitution at B-site and Pr³⁺ substitution at A-site enhanced the remanent polarization and reduced the coercive field of the films, respectively. The remanent polarization (2P_r) value of the SPBTN film was 22 μC/cm². The coercive field (2E_c) value of the SPBTN film was 102 kV/cm, which was much lower than that of SBTN (165 kV/cm). The effects of substitution on structural and ferroelectric properties of SBT were discussed in detail. As a result, the A- and B-sites co-substitution may be one of the promising ways to improve ferroelectric properties of SBT.     

Bilateral switching of the modulated electrooptic contrast in PLZTN ceramics

Spatial distribution of ferroelectric polarization in Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ ceramics doped with lanthanum and niobium has been investigated using scanning electrooptic confocal microscopy. Measurement of the modulated electrooptic signal in presence of a sinusoidal electric field reveals ferroelectric domains at microscopic scale not accessible to conventional polarized optical imaging. Both electrooptic images and local electrooptic loops have been observed after applying a bias electric field to the ceramic samples, being initially non-ferroelectric macroscopically. Bilateral reversal of the electrooptic contrast during the poling cycle has been detected and explained taking into account non-180° switching processes in ferroelectric grains of arbitrary orientation.     

Study of beam-fanning hysteresis in photo- refractive SBN:Ce: light-induced and primary scattering as functions of polar structure

We study light-induced scattering (beam-fanning) in the photorefractive crystal SBN:Ce as a function of the polar structure of the crystal. The spatial structure of the beam-fanning is measured at different externally applied electric fields, and an optical hysteresis is found in the scattering. It is shown that the scattering hysteresis results from a polarization hysteresis typical for ferroelectrics in the polar phase. New information about primary scattering in SBN is obtained, and a corresponding model of its origin is proposed. It is shown that the intensity and angular distribution of the primary scattering strongly depend on the polar structure of the crystal and can be affected by the subsequent action of an external field and coherent illumination. Received: 27 August 2002 / Revised version: 19 December 2002 / Published online: 26 March 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. E-mail: mirco.imlau@uni-osnabrueck.de     

Magnetoelectric coupling in antiferroelectric and magnetic laminate composites

We researched the properties of magnetoelectric composites between antiferroelectric Pb_0.94La_0.04(Zr_0.55Sn_0.3Ti_0.15)O₃ and magnetic Terfenol-D. The magnetic field enhances the electric field-induced strain and polarization of the composite. The magnetic moment induced by the electric field increases at the electromechanical resonance frequency because the antiferroelectric ceramics exhibit ferroelectric behaviors under a high electric field. The induced magnetic moment increases with decreasing thickness ratio and shows a hysteresis loop with the bias magnetic field. Due to the antiferroelectric characteristics, it also shows a hysteresis loop with the bias electric field, which could be used in the magnetic switch controlled by electricity.     

Ferroelectric and phase transition studies in cesium nitrate: poly(vinyl?alcohol)?composite films

The composite films of cesium nitrate (CsNO₃) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with varying composition were prepared using the solvent cast method. The hysteresis loop characteristics show optimum remnant polarization (P _r ) of 2.75 μC/cm² at 50 wt.% composition. The field emission scanning electron microscope images show a nearly homogeneous distribution of CsNO₃ grains in the 50 wt.% composite film. The temperature dependence of the remnant polarization shows a diffused transition temperature range from the ferroelectric to the paraelectric phase and this has been attributed to the reduced enthalpy. The butterfly features of the dielectric constant–voltage (ε–V) characteristics have been attributed to polarization switching.