Comment on: 'Depolarization corrections to the coercive field in thin-film ferroelectrics'

TL;DR

This paper critiques a previous correction estimate for coercive fields in thin ferroelectric films, arguing it overstates the effect and challenges claims of size-dependent coercive field scaling below 15 nm.

Contribution

It provides a revised assessment of depolarization correction magnitude, questioning prior conclusions about finite-size effects in ultrathin ferroelectric films.

Findings

Previous correction estimates are too large for certain ferroelectric copolymer films.

Finite-size scaling of coercive field is not evident in films thinner than 15 nm.

The correction invalidates earlier claims of size-dependent coercive behavior.

Abstract

The Letter by Dawber et al. [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 15 L393 (2003)] notes that incomplete screening in the electrodes of a ferroelectric capacitor can result in an underestimate for the true coercive field in films of nanometer thickness. We show that their estimate of the magnitude of this correction it too large in the case of ferroelectric copolymer Langmuir-Blodgett films and, as a result, invalidates the claim that finite-size scaling of the ferroelectric coercive field is evident in films thinner than 15 nm.