Abstract
We investigated the surface potential dynamics of a ferroelectric Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PIMNT) single crystal using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). The initial surface potential is a function of the applied bias since it reflects the interplay between the polarisation and screen charges. It is suggested that the different rates of tip injected charges are responsible for the asymmetric behaviour of the initial surface potential dependent on the sign of the applied bias. The polarisation, screen and tip injected charges are considered to explain the difference in surface potential dynamics.
Highlights
The introduction of the atomic force microscope (AFM) was of fundamental importance to surface characterisation techniques because it allowed probing of the force between an atomically sharp tip and a sample surface [1]
We investigated the surface potential dynamics of a ferroelectric Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PIMNT) single crystal using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM)
We focus on using KPFM for the characterisation of the surface potential of a ferroelectric single crystal
Summary
The introduction of the atomic force microscope (AFM) was of fundamental importance to surface characterisation techniques because it allowed probing of the force between an atomically sharp tip and a sample surface [1]. Local mechanical and adhesive forces were determined by studying the van der Waal’s and electrostatic tip-surface interaction. This allowed the correlation between surface topography and properties at the nanoscale [2]. Previous studies on ferroelectric thin films have concluded that the surface potential depends on the applied bias [15,16,17,18,19]. An asymmetry in the initial surface potential, dependent on the sign of the applied bias, is observed [17,18] This is typically attributed to the presence of an internal electric field at the ferroelectric-electrode interface that either enhances or opposes the applied bias [17,18]. A bulk single crystal is used to eliminate grain related effects and the effect of an internal electric field at the ferroelectric-electrode interface
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