Processing and Application of Ceramics (Sep 2009)

SPM studies of ferroelectric nanostructures prepared by a microemulsion-assisted method onto substrates

  • Maria Torres,
  • M. Lourdes Calzada,
  • Brian Rodriguez,
  • Marin Alexe,
  • Lorena Pardo

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 3
pp. 119 – 124

Abstract

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Ferroelectric PbTiO3 nanostructures have been fabricated using two different procedures that involve microemulsions and Chemical Solution Deposition onto Pt/TiO2/SiO2/(100)Si substrates. The first procedure enables the fabrication of structures with controlled size and shape, as observed by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) topography and computer assisted quantitative analysis, while the second procedure, in addition, yields very small (≈ 20 nm) isolated, ferroelectric nanoislands. The ferroelectric character of the nanostructures is demonstrated using Piezoelectric Force Microscopy (PFM). The ferroelectric properties depend on the height of the nanostructures, showing a strong pinning layer effect for the smaller ones, revealed by the asymmetry of the piezoelectric hysteresis loops.

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