Abstract
Ferroelectric materials exhibit spontaneous and stable polarization, which can usually be reoriented by an applied external electric field. The electrically switchable nature of this polarization is at the core of various ferroelectric devices. The motion of the associated domain walls provides the basis for ferroelectric memory, in which the storage of data bits is achieved by driving domain walls that separate regions with different polarization directions. Here we show the surprising ability to move ferroelectric domain walls of a BaTiO3 single crystal by varying the polarization angle of a coherent light source. This unexpected coupling between polarized light and ferroelectric polarization modifies the stress induced in the BaTiO3 at the domain wall, which is observed using in situ confocal Raman spectroscopy. This effect potentially leads to the non-contact remote control of ferroelectric domain walls by light.
Highlights
Ferroelectric materials exhibit spontaneous and stable polarization, which can usually be reoriented by an applied external electric field
Ferroelectric devices, as nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM)[1], are based on the electrically switchable nature of the spontaneous polarization, which is characteristic of the ferroelectric materials
Study of the domain structure was performed by optical microscopy and atomic force microscope (AFM)
Summary
Ferroelectric materials exhibit spontaneous and stable polarization, which can usually be reoriented by an applied external electric field. Ferroelectric devices, as nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM)[1], are based on the electrically switchable nature of the spontaneous polarization, which is characteristic of the ferroelectric materials In such memory devices, the storage of data bits is achieved by driving domain walls that separate regions with different polarization directions. Practical implementations of FeRAM for commercial use are still limited by difficult integration into devices as compared with their conventional magnetic RAM counterparts[2] For this reason, the ability of moving domain walls in ferroelectric materials without a physical contact fascinates the scientific community. It has been observed that ferroelectric but simultaneously ferroelastic charged domain walls are strongly pinned in real space in BiFeO3 thin films[14], which are perovskite-type multiaxial ferroelectric
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