Coulomb microexplosions of ferroelectric ceramics

Energetic neutral and extreme ultraviolet emission initiated by the dense plasma propagation along a ferroelectric surface has been found. It was shown that the emission of neutrals is characterized by a large divergence and velocities up to 7 x 10(7) cm/s. This phenomenon is explained by an extremely large electric field with amplitude > or =10(6) V/cm and rise time approximately 10(-10) s which appears at the plasma front due to the fast fall in the driving pulse. This electric field causes microexplosions of the ferroelectric surface due to inertia in the ion polarization response.