Domain wall motion in epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 capacitors investigated by modified piezoresponse force microscopy

We investigated the time-dependent domain wall motion of epitaxial PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 capacitors 100 nm thick using modified piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). We obtained successive domain evolution images reliably by combining the PFM with switching current measurements. We observed that domain wall speed (upsilon) decreases with increases in domain size. We also observed that the average value of v, obtained under applied electric field (E-app), showed creep behavior, i.e., similar to exp[-(E-0/E-app)(mu)] with an exponent mu of 0.9 +/- 0.1 and an activation field E-0 of about 700 kV/cm. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.