Nanometer scale domain measurement of ferroelectric thin films using scanning nonlinear dielectric microscopy

A very high-resolution scanning nonlinear dielectric microscope with nanometer resolution was developed for the observation of ferroelectric polarization. We demonstrate that the resolution of the microscope is of a sub-nanometer order by measurement of domains in PZT and SBT thin films. The experimental result shows that nano-sized 180° c-c ferroelectric domain with the width of 1.5 nm for PZT thin film are observed. The result also shows that the resolution of the microscope is less than 0.5 nm for the PZT thin film.