Investigation of piezoelectric 0.65Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.35PbTiO3 films in cross section using piezo-response force microscopy

Abstract

Interest in the piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties of micro- and nanomaterials is increasing due to the advances being made in nanotechnology. However, there are only a few techniques that can detect functional properties at the nanoscale, and one of them is piezo-response force microscopy (PFM). So far, this technique has been mainly used to study surface properties of piezoelectric films. In this investigation, we develop a procedure to study films in the cross section by PFM and to investigate the relaxor-ferroelectric domain structure of pristine, screen-printed, and aerosol-deposited 0.65Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.35PbTiO3 films in the cross section. Due to the different preparation methods used for two films, the grain size and, thus, the relaxor-ferroelectric domain structures differ. Micron-scale domains are observed in the screen-printed films, while sub micrometer-scale domains are found in the aerosol-deposited films. However, no change in the ferroelectric domain structures was observed across the thicknesses of the films.