Nanosecond Domain Wall Dynamics in Ferroelectric<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>Pb</mml:mi><mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo><mml:mi>Zr</mml:mi><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mi>Ti</mml:mi><mml:mo stretchy="false">)</mml:mo><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math>Thin Films

Abstract

Domain wall motion during polarization switching in ferroelectric thin films is fundamentally important and poses challenges for both experiments and modeling. We have visualized the switching of a Pb(Zr, Ti)O(3) capacitor using time-resolved x-ray microdiffraction. The structural signatures of switching include a reversal in the sign of the piezoelectric coefficient and a change in the intensity of x-ray reflections. The propagation of polarization domain walls is highly reproducible from cycle to cycle of the electric field. Domain wall velocities of 40 m s(-1) are consistent with the results of other methods, but are far less than saturation values expected at high electric fields.