Nanoelectromechanics of piezoresponse force microscopy: Contact properties, fields below the surface and polarization switching

To achieve quantitative interpretation of Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM), including resolution limits, tip bias- and strain-induced phenomena and spectroscopy, knowledge of elastic and electrostatic field distributions below the tip is required. The exact closed form solution of the coupled electroelastic problem for piezoelectric indentation is derived and used to obtain the tip-induced electric field and strain distribution in the ferroelectric material. This establishes a complete continuum mechanics description of the PFM imaging mechanism. These solutions are reduced to the point charge/force behavior for large separations from contact, and the applicability limits and charge/force magnitude for these models are established. The implications of these results for ferroelectric polarization switching processes are analyzed.