Measurement of the ferroelectric domain distributions using nonlinear dielectric response and piezoelectric response

Scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy (SNDM) is the first successful purely electrical method for observing the ferroelectric domain distributions. At present its resolution is of the sub-nanometer order. As another method for measuring the ferroelectric domains, the piezoelectric response imaging method is often used. In this study, we compare the resolution of SNDM with that of piezoelectric response imaging and confirm that SNDM gives a much higher resolution than that obtained by piezoelectric imaging. A fundamental study to apply the SNDM system to the ferroelectric reading and writing system is also performed.