Direct observation of asymmetric domain wall motion in a ferroelectric capacitor

Ja Kyung Lee; Ga Young Shin; Kyung Song; Woo Seok Choi; Yoon Ah Shin; Seong Yong Park; Jason Britson; Ye Cao; Long Qing Chen; Ho Nyung Lee; Sang Ho Oh

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2013.07.051

Direct observation of asymmetric domain wall motion in a ferroelectric capacitor

Ja Kyung Lee, Ga Young Shin, Kyung Song, Woo Seok Choi, Yoon Ah Shin, Seong Yong Park, Jason Britson, Ye Cao, Long Qing Chen, Ho Nyung Lee, Sang Ho Oh

Materials Science and Technology Div

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report in situ transmission electron microscopy observations of the 180 polarization switching process of a PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O ₃ (PZT) capacitor. The preferential, but asymmetric, nucleation and forward growth of switched c-domains were observed at the PZT/electrode interfaces, arising due to the built-in electric field induced at each interface. The subsequent sideways growth of the switched domains was inhibited by the depolarization field due to the imperfect charge compensation at the counter-electrode and also at the boundaries with preexisting a-domains, which contributed further to the asymmetric switching behavior. It was found that the preexisting a-domains split into fine a- and c-domains constituting a 90 stripe domain pattern during the 180 polarization switching process, revealing that these domains also actively participated in the out-of-plane polarization switching. The real-time observations uncovered the origin of the switching asymmetry and further clarified the importance of charged domain walls and the interfaces with electrodes in the ferroelectric switching processes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	6765-6777
Number of pages	13
Journal	Acta Materialia
Volume	61
Issue number	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2013.07.051
State	Published - Oct 2013

Funding

This study was supported mainly by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Grant 2010-0005834 and Grant 2011-0029406 ). The work at Penn State was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Award DE-FG02-07ER46417. The work at ORNL was sponsored by the US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division.

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Energy
Basic Energy Sciences
Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering	DE-FG02-07ER46417
National Research Foundation of Korea
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology	2010-0005834, 2011-0029406

Keywords

90° Domains
Depolarization field
Ferroelectric thin film
In situ transmission electron microscopy
Polarization switching

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10.1016/j.actamat.2013.07.051

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title = "Direct observation of asymmetric domain wall motion in a ferroelectric capacitor",

abstract = "We report in situ transmission electron microscopy observations of the 180 polarization switching process of a PbZr0.2Ti0.8O 3 (PZT) capacitor. The preferential, but asymmetric, nucleation and forward growth of switched c-domains were observed at the PZT/electrode interfaces, arising due to the built-in electric field induced at each interface. The subsequent sideways growth of the switched domains was inhibited by the depolarization field due to the imperfect charge compensation at the counter-electrode and also at the boundaries with preexisting a-domains, which contributed further to the asymmetric switching behavior. It was found that the preexisting a-domains split into fine a- and c-domains constituting a 90 stripe domain pattern during the 180 polarization switching process, revealing that these domains also actively participated in the out-of-plane polarization switching. The real-time observations uncovered the origin of the switching asymmetry and further clarified the importance of charged domain walls and the interfaces with electrodes in the ferroelectric switching processes.",

keywords = "90° Domains, Depolarization field, Ferroelectric thin film, In situ transmission electron microscopy, Polarization switching",

author = "Lee, {Ja Kyung} and Shin, {Ga Young} and Kyung Song and Choi, {Woo Seok} and Shin, {Yoon Ah} and Park, {Seong Yong} and Jason Britson and Ye Cao and Chen, {Long Qing} and Lee, {Ho Nyung} and Oh, {Sang Ho}",

year = "2013",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.actamat.2013.07.051",

language = "English",

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T1 - Direct observation of asymmetric domain wall motion in a ferroelectric capacitor

AU - Lee, Ja Kyung

AU - Shin, Ga Young

AU - Song, Kyung

AU - Choi, Woo Seok

AU - Shin, Yoon Ah

AU - Park, Seong Yong

AU - Britson, Jason

AU - Cao, Ye

AU - Chen, Long Qing

AU - Lee, Ho Nyung

AU - Oh, Sang Ho

PY - 2013/10

Y1 - 2013/10

N2 - We report in situ transmission electron microscopy observations of the 180 polarization switching process of a PbZr0.2Ti0.8O 3 (PZT) capacitor. The preferential, but asymmetric, nucleation and forward growth of switched c-domains were observed at the PZT/electrode interfaces, arising due to the built-in electric field induced at each interface. The subsequent sideways growth of the switched domains was inhibited by the depolarization field due to the imperfect charge compensation at the counter-electrode and also at the boundaries with preexisting a-domains, which contributed further to the asymmetric switching behavior. It was found that the preexisting a-domains split into fine a- and c-domains constituting a 90 stripe domain pattern during the 180 polarization switching process, revealing that these domains also actively participated in the out-of-plane polarization switching. The real-time observations uncovered the origin of the switching asymmetry and further clarified the importance of charged domain walls and the interfaces with electrodes in the ferroelectric switching processes.

AB - We report in situ transmission electron microscopy observations of the 180 polarization switching process of a PbZr0.2Ti0.8O 3 (PZT) capacitor. The preferential, but asymmetric, nucleation and forward growth of switched c-domains were observed at the PZT/electrode interfaces, arising due to the built-in electric field induced at each interface. The subsequent sideways growth of the switched domains was inhibited by the depolarization field due to the imperfect charge compensation at the counter-electrode and also at the boundaries with preexisting a-domains, which contributed further to the asymmetric switching behavior. It was found that the preexisting a-domains split into fine a- and c-domains constituting a 90 stripe domain pattern during the 180 polarization switching process, revealing that these domains also actively participated in the out-of-plane polarization switching. The real-time observations uncovered the origin of the switching asymmetry and further clarified the importance of charged domain walls and the interfaces with electrodes in the ferroelectric switching processes.

KW - 90° Domains

KW - Depolarization field

KW - Ferroelectric thin film

KW - In situ transmission electron microscopy

KW - Polarization switching

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DO - 10.1016/j.actamat.2013.07.051

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SN - 1359-6454

VL - 61

SP - 6765

EP - 6777

JO - Acta Materialia

JF - Acta Materialia

IS - 18

ER -

Direct observation of asymmetric domain wall motion in a ferroelectric capacitor

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