News and Announcements from JAP

New Special Topic Section

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new special topic section, Invited Papers from the International Symposium on Piezoelectric Force Microscopy and Nanoscale Phenomena in Polar Materials, in the 15 August issue of the journal. The symposium was held in Aveiro, Portugal in June 2009 and comprised a set of tutorials on fundamentals of piezoelectric force microscope (PFM) operation, relevant instrumental details, and image and piezohysteresis interpretation, as well as presenting experimental work from ferroelectric laboratories worldwide equipped with modern PFM setups.

Listen to an introduction to the special topic section by Guest Editor Sergei V. Kalinin.

Alternatively, read the Preface by Guest Editors Sergei V. Kalinin, Nava Setter and Andrei L. Kholkin.

Research Highlights

Piezoresponse force microscopy investigations of Aurivillius phase thin films
Lynette Keeney, Panfeng F. Zhang, Claudia Groh, Martyn E. Pemble, and Roger W. Whatmore

The electromechanical responses of the materials were investigated using piezoresponse force microscopy and the results are discussed in relation to the crystallinity of the films as measured by x-ray diffraction.

J. Appl. Phys. 108, 042004 (2010)

Lateral piezoelectric response across ferroelectric domain walls in thin films
J. Guyonnet, H. Béa, and P. Paruch

We attribute lateral piezoresponse at domain walls to their sideways motion (shear) under the applied electric field. From simple elastic considerations and the conservation of volume of the unit cell, we would expect a similar lateral signal more generally in other ferroelectric materials, and for all types of domain walls in which the out-of-plane component of the polarization is reversed through the domain wall.

J. Appl. Phys. 108, 042002 (2010)

Correlation of electron backscatter diffraction and piezoresponse force microscopy for the nanoscale characterization of ferroelectric domains in polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate
T. L. Burnett, P. M. Weaver, J. F. Blackburn, M. Stewart, and M. G. Cain

We show how, by combining textural analysis, through electron backscattered diffraction, with piezoresponse force microscopy, quantitative measurements of the piezoelectric properties can be made at a scale of 25 nm, smaller than the domain size. The results offer insight into the science of domain engineering and provide a tool for the future development of new nanostructured ferroelectric materials for memory, nanoactuators, and sensors based on magnetoelectric multiferroics.