Anelastic deformation of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin films by non-180° ferroelectric domain wall movements during nanoindentation

Lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 ferroelectric thin films show significant anelastic deformation when indented with spherical tipped indenters. Experiments on films with different Zr/Ti ratio and a mixed <001>,<100> preferred crystallographic orientation have shown that there is a good agreement between the anelastic deformation and the maximum strain achievable by non-180degrees domain wall movement. An expected increase of the indentation stiffness of the films also accompanies the anelastic deformation because of the single crystal elastic anisotropy. All these observations seem to indicate that non-180degrees ferroelectric domain wall movements occur under indentation stresses and cause anelasticity. Stresses for maximum anelastic deformation are compared with those for recently reported stress-induced depolarization. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.