Surface screening of written ferroelectric domains in ambient conditions

J. J. Segura; N. Domingo; J. Fraxedas; A. Verdaguer

doi:10.1063/1.4801983

Surface screening of written ferroelectric domains in ambient conditions

J. J. Segura, N. Domingo, J. Fraxedas, A. Verdaguer

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

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have combined Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) to study screening charge dynamics in written domains on PbZr_0.2Ti_0.8O₃ (PZT) thin film surfaces under a controlled environment and at variable temperature. The screening dynamics decayed exponentially on a timescale of tens of minutes, consistently with what we expected for water-mediated surface diffusion of ionic species. Variable-temperature KPFM measurements showed variations in surface potential due to temporary unbalanced surface screening charges. Low humidity experiments revealed gradual incorporation of positive charges onto the surface, even in a non-reactive environment (N₂), as well as deceleration of the screening dynamics upon reversal of the temperature variation. Our work may serve as a guide for future studies on the dynamics and nature of adsorbates on polarized PZT thin films.

Original language	English
Article number	187213
Journal	Journal of Applied Physics
Volume	113
Issue number	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4801983
State	Published - May 14 2013
Externally published	Yes

Funding

We thank Professor G. Catalan for useful discussions and acknowledge Professor S. Kalinin's guidance in helping us to understand the charge screening processes in ferroelectrics. This work was supported by the former Spanish Goverment through Project No. FIS2009-08355 and Project No. MAT2010-17771. N.D. acknowledges financial support from an RyC Grant of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO).

Funders	Funder number
Spanish Goverment	FIS2009-08355, MAT2010-17771
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

Access to Document

10.1063/1.4801983

Cite this

@article{ffe99c41a1ca46b0931d1a9587d90606,

title = "Surface screening of written ferroelectric domains in ambient conditions",

abstract = "We have combined Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) to study screening charge dynamics in written domains on PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PZT) thin film surfaces under a controlled environment and at variable temperature. The screening dynamics decayed exponentially on a timescale of tens of minutes, consistently with what we expected for water-mediated surface diffusion of ionic species. Variable-temperature KPFM measurements showed variations in surface potential due to temporary unbalanced surface screening charges. Low humidity experiments revealed gradual incorporation of positive charges onto the surface, even in a non-reactive environment (N2), as well as deceleration of the screening dynamics upon reversal of the temperature variation. Our work may serve as a guide for future studies on the dynamics and nature of adsorbates on polarized PZT thin films.",

author = "Segura, {J. J.} and N. Domingo and J. Fraxedas and A. Verdaguer",

year = "2013",

month = may,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1063/1.4801983",

language = "English",

volume = "113",

journal = "Journal of Applied Physics",

issn = "0021-8979",

publisher = "American Institute of Physics",

number = "18",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Surface screening of written ferroelectric domains in ambient conditions

AU - Segura, J. J.

AU - Domingo, N.

AU - Fraxedas, J.

AU - Verdaguer, A.

PY - 2013/5/14

Y1 - 2013/5/14

N2 - We have combined Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) to study screening charge dynamics in written domains on PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PZT) thin film surfaces under a controlled environment and at variable temperature. The screening dynamics decayed exponentially on a timescale of tens of minutes, consistently with what we expected for water-mediated surface diffusion of ionic species. Variable-temperature KPFM measurements showed variations in surface potential due to temporary unbalanced surface screening charges. Low humidity experiments revealed gradual incorporation of positive charges onto the surface, even in a non-reactive environment (N2), as well as deceleration of the screening dynamics upon reversal of the temperature variation. Our work may serve as a guide for future studies on the dynamics and nature of adsorbates on polarized PZT thin films.

AB - We have combined Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) to study screening charge dynamics in written domains on PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PZT) thin film surfaces under a controlled environment and at variable temperature. The screening dynamics decayed exponentially on a timescale of tens of minutes, consistently with what we expected for water-mediated surface diffusion of ionic species. Variable-temperature KPFM measurements showed variations in surface potential due to temporary unbalanced surface screening charges. Low humidity experiments revealed gradual incorporation of positive charges onto the surface, even in a non-reactive environment (N2), as well as deceleration of the screening dynamics upon reversal of the temperature variation. Our work may serve as a guide for future studies on the dynamics and nature of adsorbates on polarized PZT thin films.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878102819&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1063/1.4801983

DO - 10.1063/1.4801983

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84878102819

SN - 0021-8979

VL - 113

JO - Journal of Applied Physics

JF - Journal of Applied Physics

IS - 18

M1 - 187213

ER -

Surface screening of written ferroelectric domains in ambient conditions

Abstract

Funding

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this