Domain wall motion in stoichiometric LiTaO3 induced by low-energy electron beam

Abstract

Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the mobility of domain walls in vapor-transport equilibrated stoichiometric LiTaO3. By using low-acceleration voltage, switching occurs solely for polarization pointing up domains, resulting in fast domain-wall motion. When the incoming electron beam was more energetic with larger penetration depth, the switching instead occurred for polarization pointing down domains. Our results are discussed in terms of the interaction of the scanning electron beam with the polarization-screening charges at the crystal surface.