Ferroelectric characterization of nondensified particle-based structures

Increasing requirements concerning the powder quality for fine-grained ferroelectric ceramics or for low temperature coating technologies provoke further improvements in particle characterization methods. So far, a correct quantitative measurement of the ferroelectric properties for as synthesized particles is lacking and only already sintered ceramics can be measured precisely. We report on a measurement setup to characterize films made of as synthesized ferroelectric particles. The chosen measurement setup enables the definite determination of ferroelectricity in such nondensified particle-based structures. A centrifugally casted BaTiO3 particulate film with 50% porosity is used for characterization. The correct value of the remanent polarization for this porous film obtained by the new method is almost half the value estimated by conventional measurement setups. Compared to a sintered BaTiO3 ceramic the achieved remanent polarization is much lower (10%). At the same time a higher maximum field has to be applied to the sample as lower fields act on the individual particles because of the porosity of this film. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3223323]