Low-temperature X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (X-PEEM) is used to measure the electric potential at domain walls in improper ferroelectric Er0.99Ca0.01MnO3. By combining X-PEEM with scanning probe microscopy and theory, we develop a model that relates the detected X-PEEM contrast to the emergence of uncompensated bound charges, explaining the image formation based on intrinsic electronic domain-wall properties. In contrast to previously applied low-temperature electrostatic force microscopy (EFM), X-PEEM readily distinguishes between positive and negative bound charges at domain walls. Our study introduces an X-PEEM based approach for low-temperature electrostatic potential mapping, facilitating nanoscale spatial resolution and data acquisition times in the order of 0.1-1 sec.
@article{arxiv.2001.04894,
title = {Electrostatic potential mapping at ferroelectric domain walls by low-temperature photoemission electron microscopy},
author = {J. Schaab and K. Shapovalov and P. Schoenherr and J. Hackl and M. I. Khan and M. Hentschel and Z. Yan and E. Bourret and C. M. Schneider and S. Nemsák and M. Stengel and A. Cano and D. Meier},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.04894},
year = {2020}
}