SPM Visualization of Polarized Domains in Ultra-Small Regions of Piezoelectric Materials

User Benefits

- The distribution of polarized domains in ultra-small regions, an essential factor in determining the properties of piezoelectric materials, can be observed. - Targets can be evaluated under atmospheres close to the actual use environment (air, inert gas, low vacuum, etc.). - The high performance optical microscope integrated into the SPM enables precise target location.

Introduction

Piezoelectric materials have the piezoelectric property to deform themselves when voltage is applied. Due to this characteristic, piezoelectric materials play an important role in various industrial products such as sensors, buzzers, and filters. Particularly in recent years, as electronic and communication devices have become increasingly miniaturized, piezoelectric materials are required to perform at even higher standards, and vigorous development is underway. Piezoelectric materials are composed of domains with aligned spontaneous polarization, and these domains are polarized in different directions as shown in Fig. 1. These polarized domains are an essential factor in determining the properties of piezoelectric materials. However, it is not easy to observe the distribution of polarized domains in extremely minute regions. In this article, we introduce an example of capturing polarized domains in an ultra-small region of piezoelectric materials using a scanning probe microscope [SPM (AFM)], which can observe various physical quantities with nanometer-order resolution.

September 24, 2021 GMT