Related papers: Extrinsic Size Effect in Piezoresponse Force Micro…
Piezoresponse Force Microscopy is a powerful but delicate nanoscale technique that measures the mechanical response resulting from the application of a highly localized electric field. Though mechanical response is normally due to…
Coupling between electrical and mechanical phenomena is a near-universal characteristic of inorganic and biological systems alike, with examples ranging from ferroelectric perovskites to electromotor proteins in cellular membranes.…
We report a more than 10-fold enhancement of the piezoelectric coefficient $d_{33}$ of polycrystalline CH$_3$NH$_3$PbI$_3$ (MAPbI$_3$) films when interfacing them with ferroelectric PbZr$_{0.2}$Ti$_{0.8}$O$_3$ (PZT). Piezo-response force…
Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is a powerful characterization technique to readily image and manipulate ferroelectrics domains. PFM gives insight into the strength of local piezoelectric coupling as well as polarization direction…
We report on nanoscale strain gradients in ferroelectric HoMnO3 epitaxial thin films, resulting in a giant flexoelectric effect. Using grazing-incidence in-plane X-ray diffraction, we measured strain gradients in the films, which were 6 or…
In Part I of this set of two papers, a model of mesoscopic plasticity is developed for studying initial-boundary value problems of small scale plasticity. Here we make qualitative, finite element method-based computational predictions of…
Multifunctionality as a paradigm requires materials exhibiting multiple superior properties. Integrating second-order optical nonlinearity and large bandgap with piezoelectricity could, for example, enable broadband, strain-tunable…
Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is a powerful tool for probing nanometer-scale ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Hysteretic switching of the phase and amplitude of the PFM response are believed to be the hallmark of…
Ferroelectric nanostructures can be formed by local switching of domains using techniques such as piezo-force microscopy (PFM). Understanding lateral size effects is important to determine the minimum feature size for writing ferroelectric…
Finite-thickness effects are analyzed theoretically for the plasma frequency and associated dielectric response function of plasmonic films formed by periodically aligned, infinitely thin, identical metallic cylinders. The plasma frequency…
We present a methodology to mitigate the effect of the parasitic electrostatic contribution usually present in piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) measurement for quantitative characterization of polycrystalline piezoelectric thin films…
Using the model system of ferroelectric domain walls, we explore the effects of long-range dipolar interactions and periodic ordering on the behavior of pinned elastic interfaces. In piezoresponse force microscopy studies of the…
Finite size effects in ferroelectric thin films have been probed in a series of epitaxial perovskite c-axis oriented PbTiO3 films grown on thin La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 epitaxial electrodes. The film thickness ranges from 480 down to 28 A (7 unit…
The mean-field Landau-type theory is used to analyze the polarization properties of epitaxial ferroelectric thin films grown on dissimilar cubic substrates, which induce biaxial compressive stress in the film plane. The intrinsic effect of…
Small-scale mechanical behaviour shows significant departures from classical elastic-plastic theory. In a remarkable number of instances, the strength of a material appears to scale as the reciprocal square root of the smallest length…
Given that a ferroelectric domain is generally a three dimensional entity, the determination of its area as well as its depth is mandatory for full characterization. Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is known for its ability to map the…
A reduction of polarization in ultra-thin ferroelectric films appears to be fundamental to ferroelectricity at the nanoscale. For the model system PbTiO3 on SrTiO3, we report observation of the polarization vs. thickness relation. Distinct…
The domain size dependence of piezoelectric properties of ferroelectrics is investigated using a continuum Ginzburg-Landau model that incorporates the long-range elastic and electrostatic interactions. Microstructures with desired domain…
External magnetic fields influence the microstructure of polycrystalline materials. We explore the influence of strong external magnetic fields on the long time scaling of grain size during coarsening in thin films with an extended…
The electronic properties of thin films present quantum-size effects, which are a consequence of the finite size of the system. Here we focus on the investigation of these effects on the electronic energy loss of charged particles moving…