Correlated domain and crystallographic orientation mapping in uniaxial ferroelectric polycrystals by interferometric vector piezoresponse force microscopy

TL;DR

This paper introduces an interferometric vector PFM technique that enables simultaneous, high-throughput nanoscale mapping of crystallographic orientations and domain structures in uniaxial ferroelectric polycrystals without sample rotation.

Contribution

The study demonstrates a novel interferometric vector PFM method for rapid, automated, and high-resolution mapping of grain orientations and domains in polycrystalline ferroelectrics.

Findings

Correlated piezoresponse vectors with crystallographic orientations.

Achieved nanoscale, high-throughput characterization of polycrystals.

Validated approach using ErMnO₃ as a model system.

Abstract

Ongoing advances in scanning probe microscopy techniques are continually expanding the possibilities for nanoscale characterization and correlated studies of functional materials. Here, we demonstrate how a recent extension of piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), known as interferometric vector PFM, can be utilized for simultaneously mapping the local crystallographic orientations and the domain structure of distributed grains in uniaxial ferroelectric polycrystals. By shifting the laser beam position on the cantilever, direction-dependent piezoresponse signals are acquired analogous to classical vector PFM, but without the need to rotate the sample. Using polycrystalline ErMnO$_{3}$ as a model system, we demonstrate that the reconstructed piezoresponse vectors correlate one-to-one with the crystallographic orientations of the micrometer-sized grains, carrying grain-orientation and domain-related information. We establish a versatile approach for rapid, multimodal characterization of polycrystalline uniaxial ferroelectrics, enabling automated, high-throughput reconstruction of polarization and grain orientations with nanoscale precision.