title: Bundles of polytwins as meta-elastic domains in the thin polycrystalline simple multi-ferroic system PZT.
abstract: We used enhanced piezo-response force microscopy (E-PFM) to investigate both ferroelastic and ferroelectric nanodomains in thin films of the simple multi-ferroic system PbZr(0.3)Ti(0.7)O(3) (PZT). We show how the grains are organized into a new type of elastic domain bundles of the well-known periodic elastic twins. Here we present these bundle domains and discuss their stability and origin. Moreover, we show that they can arrange in such a way as to release strain in a more effective way than simple twinning. Finally, we show that these bundle domains can arrange to form the macroscopic ferroelectric domains that constitute the basis of ferroelectric-based memory devices.
authors.affiliation: Nanoscience Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. yi231@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Yachin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ivry
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Colm
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Durkan