title: Domain dynamics during ferroelectric switching.
abstract: The utility of ferroelectric materials stems from the ability to nucleate and move polarized domains using an electric field. To understand the mechanisms of polarization switching, structural characterization at the nanoscale is required. We used aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy to follow the kinetics and dynamics of ferroelectric switching at millisecond temporal and subangstrom spatial resolution in an epitaxial bilayer of an antiferromagnetic ferroelectric (BiFeO(3)) on a ferromagnetic electrode (La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO(3)). We observed localized nucleation events at the electrode interface, domain wall pinning on point defects, and the formation of ferroelectric domains localized to the ferroelectric and ferromagnetic interface. These results show how defects and interfaces impede full ferroelectric switching of a thin film.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jacob R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jokisaari
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heikes
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Adamo
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melville
authors.forename: Seung-Hyub
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Chad M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Folkman
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winchester
authors.forename: Yijia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Yuanming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kui
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Enge
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jiangyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Long-Qing
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chang-Beom
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Eom
authors.forename: Darrell G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Schlom
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan