Piezo-generated charge mapping revealed through direct piezoelectric force microscopy.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29062016.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-01361-2 and PMC identifier 5653648.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
While piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials play a key role in many everyday applications, there are still a number of open questions related to their physics. To enhance our understanding of piezoelectrics and ferroelectrics, nanoscale characterization is essential. Here, we develop an atomic force microscopy based mode that obtains a direct quantitative analysis of the piezoelectric coefficient d<sub>33</sub>. We report nanoscale images of piezogenerated charge in a thick single crystal of periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN), a bismuth ferrite (BiFO<sub>3</sub>) thin film, and lead zirconate titanate (PZT) by applying a force and recording the current produced by these materials. The quantification of d<sub>33</sub> coefficients for PPLN (14 ± 3 pC per N) and BFO (43 ± 6 pC per N) is in agreement with the values reported in the literature. Even stronger evidence of the reliability of the method is provided by an equally accurate measurement of the significantly larger d<sub>33</sub> of PZT.