Nanoscale Characterisation of Ferroelectric Materials

Book excerpt: This book presents recent advances in the field of nanoscale characterization of ferroelectric materials using scanning probe microscopy (SPM). It addresses various imaging mechanisms of ferroelectric domains in SPM, quantitative analysis of the piezoresponse signals as well as basic physics of ferroelectrics at the nanoscale level, such as nanoscale switching, scaling effects, and transport behavior. This state-of-the-art review of theory and experiments on nanoscale polarization phenomena will be a useful reference for advanced readers as well for newcomers and graduate students interested in the SPM techniques. The non-specialists will obtain valuable information about different approaches to electrical characterization by SPM, while researchers in the ferroelectric field will be provided with details of SPM-based measurements of ferroelectrics.