Nanoscale control of ferroelectric polarization and domain size in epitaxial Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin films

Abstract

We demonstrate that atomic force microscopy can be used to precisely manipulate individual sub-50 nm ferroelectric domains in ultrahigh density arrays on high-quality epitaxial Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 thin films. Control of domain size was achieved by varying the strength and duration of the voltage pulses used to polarize the material. Domain size was found to depend logarithmically upon the writing time and linearly upon the writing voltage. All domains, including those written with ∼100 ns pulses, remained completely stable for the 7 day duration of the experiment. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.