Domain growth kinetics and wall strain behavior in BaMgF4 ferroelectric crystal by piezoresponse force microscopy

The sidewise domain dynamic and wall strain behavior in the atomic force microscope (AFM) tip electric field has been investigated in ferroelectric BaMgF4 single crystal by piezoresponse force microscopy. Unusual 180 degrees domain wall strain phenomenon and its dynamics in the domain decay process of BaMgF4 crystal were directly visualized by AFM. The dependence of the lateral domain size on the switching voltage pulse magnitude and duration was measured and discussed. It was shown that the defects in the crystal play an important role in such abnormal wall strain behavior, and the sidewise domain kinetics reveals an activation mechanism of the wall motion in the bulk BaMgF4 single crystal. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.