Direct Observation of Pinning and Bowing of a Single Ferroelectric Domain Wall

T. J. Yang; Venkatraman Gopalan; P. J. Swart; U. Mohideen

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.4106

Direct Observation of Pinning and Bowing of a Single Ferroelectric Domain Wall

T. J. Yang, Venkatraman Gopalan, P. J. Swart, and U. Mohideen

Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 4106 – Published 17 May 1999

Abstract

We have made a direct optical observation of pinning and bowing of a single 180° ferroelectric domain wall under a uniform applied electric field using a collection mode near-field scanning optical microscope. The domain wall is observed to curve between the pinning defects, with a radius of curvature determined by the material parameters and the applied electric field. The change in birefringence with applied field is used to infer the orientation of the internal field at the domain wall.

Received 19 November 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.4106

Authors & Affiliations

T. J. Yang¹, Venkatraman Gopalan², P. J. Swart³, and U. Mohideen^1,*

¹Department of Physics, University of California, Riverside, California 92521
²Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
³Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545